VITAL  FORCES  IN 

CURREIST  EVEMS 

SPEARE  AND  NORRIS 

' 

•» 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


^HIS 


VITAL  FORCES  IN 
CURRENT  EVENTS 


READINGS  ON  PRESENT-DAY 

AFFAIRS  FROM  CONTEMPORARY  LEADERS 

AND  THINKERS 


EDITED  BY 

MORRIS  EDMUND  SPEARE 

HEAD    OF  THE    DEPARTMENT   OF   ENGLISH,    COLLEGE   OF  COMMERCE 
UNIVERSITY   OF   MARYLAND 

AND 

WALTER  BLAKE  NORRIS 

ASSOCIATE  PROFESSOR  OF   ENGLISH,   UNITED  STATES 
NAVAL  ACADEMY 


GINN  AND  COMPANY 

BOSTON     •     NEW    YORK     •     CHICAGO     •     LONDON 
ATLANTA     •     DALLAS     •     COLUMBUS     •     SAN    FRANCISCO 


COPYRIGHT,  1920,  BY   MORRIS    EDMUND   SI'EARE 

AND  WALTER   BLAKE   NORRIS 

ALL   RIGHTS  RESERVED 

PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 
4163 


GINN  AND  COMPANY  .  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  ■  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

The  present  volume  owes  its  origin  to  the  increasing  recog- 
nition of  the  value  of  current  events  in  education,  as  evidenced 
not  only  by  the  inclusion  of  readings  in  current  events  as  one 
possible  unit  in  fulfilling  the  uniform  college-entrance  require- 
ments in  English  but  by  the  widening  use  of  current  literature 
in  English  courses  in  school  and  college.  Teachers  are 
realizing  as  never  before  the  vitalizing  influence  which  a  study 
of  distinguished  contemporary  writing  can  create. 

In  compiling  a  book  of  selections  to  assist  in  making  such 
work  feasible  and  effective,  the  editors  have  sought  for  articles 
with  four  qualities,  all  of  them  desirable  in  material  of  this 
sort.  Each  selection  should  present  a  vital  issue,  a  question  of 
real  importance  to  America  and  the  world.    Each  discussion 

^  should  deal  with  fundamental  ideas  such  as  are  likely  to  hold 
good  through  the  changing  current  of  events.  An  analysis  of 
the  style  and  structure  of  each  article  should  disclose  the  best 
qualities  of  present-day  writing,  clearness  and  interest.  And, 
lastly,  so  far  as  possible  the  student  should  be  brought  into 
stimulating  contact  with  some  leader  of  thought  or  action  today 

•j  who  can  speak  with  the  authority  of  public  recognition. 

^  The  editors  have  taken  advantage  of  similarity  of  aim  of  the 
two  volumes  to  use  considerable  material  from  their  ''World 
War  Issues  and  Ideals,"  and  wish  to  express  their  appreciation 
of  the  kindness  of  the  contributors  to  that  volume  for  the 
opportunity  to  use  again  the  material  so  generously  granted 
them  there.  Though  the  field  covered  by  the  two  books  is 
somewhat  different,  the  general  purpose  has  remained  the  same 
—  to  present  contemporary  problems  and  ideals,  national  and 
international,  as  they  are  seen  by  men  of  light  and  leading  today. 

THE  EDITORS 

185925     - 


CONTENTS 

I.    THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA 

PAGE 

What  is  an  American? Charles  W.  Eliot  i 

Law  and  Liberty Elihi'i  Root  5 

The  Right  Attitude  for  the  American  Citizen 

Chai'les  E.  Hughes  7 

A  Charter  of  Democracy Theodore  Roosevelt     14 

Theodore  Roosevelt  —  American  ....  Leonard  Wood    26 

II.   NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES 

Western  Democracy  and  Big  Business 

Frederick  J.  Tiirner     34 

The  Challenge  of  the  Pacific  Coast  .     .      Josiah  Royce  45 

American  Resources  and  Inventions  .  Franklin  K.  Lane  48 

The  Conservation  of  our  Resources  .  John  Bates  Clark  54 

Country  Life  and  Conservation    .     .  Theodore  Roosevelt  62 

Forward  to  the  Land  Movement 

David  Franklin  Houston       65 

America's  Foreign  Trade        George  E.  Roberts  6g 

Our  New  Merchant  Marine       ....      Ralph  D.  Paine  76 
The  Democratic  Control  of  the  Railroads 

Frederic  C.  Howe  81 
Government  Ownership  vs.  Private  Control 

Samuel  O.  Dunn  84 

III.    SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT 

National  \Velfare  defined  Industrially 

Herbert  Hoover    93 

Humanizing  Industry Irving  lusher    95 

V 


vi  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

TiiF.  Tfxhmqi'k  oi-  American  Industry  tage 

Carlcton  H.  Parker  103 

TiiF.  Demands  of  Labor Samuel  Gompers  110 

The  Reply  of  Capital  —  Representation 

Jolin  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.  \  1 4 

Capital  and  Labor:   A  Fair  Deal  .     .     .     Otto  H.  Kahn  119 

The  Immigrant's  Viewpoint       .     .     .    Randolph  S.  Bourne  131 

"Americanization" — A  Definition.     .      Walter  E.  IVeyl  134 

IV.  EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES 

A  Revised  Definition  of  Education     .     Charles  W.  Eliot  1 50 

The  Social  Ideal  in  Education  .     .     .   George  E.  Vincent  155 

Vocational  Education  and  National  Ideals 

B.  H.  Crocheron  163 

Women  in  Politics  —  A  Chance  for  Broader  Education 

Helen  H.  Taft  1 67 

V.   THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  WORLD  PEACE 

Peace  through  Democracy Elihu  Root  1 76 

Force  and  Peace Henry  Cabot  Lodge  180 

The  Fourteen  Points Woodrow  Wilson  183 

The  Policy  of  "The  Open  Door"   .     .     Baiiibridqe  Colby  186 

The  Principle  of  Nationality     .     .  Archibald  C.  Coolidge  189 

VI.    THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

The  League  of  Nations  a  Culmination  of  Civilization 

Jati  C.  Smuts  195 

"  I  AM  A  Covenanter  " Woodrow  Wilson  1 99 

The  Question  of  "  Reservations  "    .      Henry  Cabot  Lodge  204 

Article  X Woodrow  {Vilson  209 

Article  X Henry  Cabot  Lodge  215 

Is  the  Covenant  A.merican?     .     .     .      Henry  Cabot  Lodge  217 


CONTENTS  vii 
VII.    LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  United  States  and  Latin  America  page 

Woodroiv  Wilson  221 

Our  Latin-American  Policy Richard  Olney  226 

The   Tests  of  Self-Government    .     .     .    Woodroiv  Wilson  229 

Tutoring  the  Philippines Charles  H.  Brent  237 

VIII.    UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS 

European  and  American  Life  Compared 

Guglielmo  Ferrero  245 

Diagnosis  of  the  Englishman  ....   Johfi  Galsworthy  250 


Gilbert  Mu7-ray  253 
Maurice  Barres  256 
Entile  Boutroux     258 


Aristocracy  in  English  Life     .     .     . 
The  French  Flame  of  Patriotism    . 

French  Liberty    

The  Modern  Italian William  Kay  Wallace     262 

The   Intelligentsia   and    the  People    in  the   Russian 

Revolution Moissaye  J,  Olgitt     271 

The  Far-Eastern  Problem J.  O.  P.  Bland    278 

APPENDIX 
Questions  for  Class  Use i 


VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT 
EVENTS 

I 

THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA 

WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN?^ 

Charles  W.  Eliot 

[Charles  William  Eliot  (1834-  ),  a  graduate  of  Harvard  and 
its  president  from  1869  to  igog,  has  wielded  a  great  influence  on 
American  education,  especially  in  securing  the  adoption  of  the 
elective  system  in  colleges.  He  has  written  largely  on  education 
and  public  affairs  and  is  one  of  the  clearest  thinkers  on  the  prob- 
lems of  American  life.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  World  War 
he  began  writing  frequently  on  its  issues  and  problems.  His  best 
essays  are  "American  Contributions  to  CiviHzation"  (1897),  "The 
Working  of  American  Democracy,"  and  "The  Modern  Defini- 
tion of  the  Cultivated  Man"  (igo3).] 

In  the  first  place,  the  American  is  the  product  of  certain 
moral  inheritances.  He  is  usually  the  descendant  of  an  immi- 
grant or  an  immigrant  himself.  That  immigrant,  in  many  cases, 
was  escaping  from  some  sort  df  religious,  political,  social,  or 
economic  oppression.  He  was  some  kind  of  nonconformist, 
and  he  was  dissatisfied  with  his  surroundings  and  wished  to 
better  them.  Therefore  he  must  have  had  an  unusual  amount 
of  imagination,  ambition,  and  venturesomeness.  This  is  as  true 
of  the  late  comers  to  America  as  of  the  earlier  comers.  The 
English  Pilgrims  and  Puritans,  the  French  Huguenots,  the 
Scotch  Covenanters,  the  Moravians,  the  Quakers,  the  Russian 

iFrora  Collier's  Weekly,  August  12,  1916.    Reprinted  by  permission. 


3  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

Jews,  the  Armenians,  and  the  Syrian  Christians  all  fled  from 
religious  hostilities  or  restrictions,  and  meant  to  secure,  or  ex- 
pected to  tmd,  in  the  New  World  freedom  to  worship  God  each 
in  his  own  way.  They  found  that  liberty,  and  ultimately  estab- 
lished in  the  United  States  a  regime  of  absolute  religious  toler- 
ation. After  1848  a  large  German  immigration  took  refuge 
here  from  political  oppression.  Millions  of  European  and  Near- 
Eastern  people  have  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  taken  the  serious 
risk  of  attempting  to  secure  a  foothold  in  fresh  and  free  Amer- 
ica, because  they  hoped  to  escape  from  economic  pressure  and 
chronic  poverty.  They  have  exiled  themselves  from  home  and 
friends  in  search  of  some  better  opportunity  for  a  successful 
and  happy  life  than  the  native  land  offered.  The  migrations  of 
the  Irish  and  the  Scotch  Highlanders  have  been  strong  cases 
of  escape  from  harassing  economic  and  social  conditions.  The 
early  comers  took  the  risks  of  the  wilderness,  the  Indians,  the 
untried  climate,  and  the  unknown  diseases.  The  late  comers 
have  dared  the  perils  of  congested  cities,  of  novel  industries, 
and  of  insecure  employment.  Hence,  by  heredity,  the  white 
Americans  of  today — of  whatever  race  or  stock — have  a  fair 
chance  to  be  by  nature  independent,  bold,  and  enterprising. 

In  the  second  place,  the  environment  of  the  immigrants  into 
North  America  during  the  past  three  centuries  has  exerted  a 
common  influence  on  them  all,  which  has  tended  to  produce  in 
the  successive  generations  certain  advantageous  qualities.  All 
the  American  generations  thus  far  may  fairly  be  said  to  have 
done  pioneering  work,  and  all  the  earlier  generations  lived  a 
life  of  conflict  with  the  hostilities  of  adverse  Nature  and  with 
hostile  human  beings,  both  savage  and  civilized.  Such  pioneer- 
ing and  such  conflict  all  across  a  continent  supply  men  and 
women  alike  with  a  strenuous  training. 

The  American  colonies  were  engaged  most  of  the  time  in 
some  kind  of  warfare.  From  the  beginning  the  American  settlers 
carried  arms  and  were  often  called  upon  to  defend  their  homes 
and  their  communities.  The  Massachusetts  Puritan  farmer  car- 
ried his  flintlock  with  him  to  the  meetinghouse,  and  the  frontier 
settler  has  always  had  firearms  in  his  cabin  and  has  taught  his 
boys  how  to  use  them. 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  3 

In  the  nineteenth  century  the  United  States  was  involved  four 
times  in  costly  war.  No  American  generation  has  escaped  the 
discipline  of  war.  Among  the  most  recent  immigrants  from 
southern  Europe  and  the  Near  East  there  have  been  many 
thousands  of  young  men  who,  before  they  had  really  established 
themselves  in  the  New  World,  returned  home  to  bear  their  part 
in  the  present  agonies  of  the  Old.  An  American,  therefore,  is 
likely  to  be  a  man  of  individualistic  quality,  who  nevertheless 
possesses  a  strong  community  sense  and  is  ready  to  fight  in 
defense  of  his  family  and  his  community.  His  environment  has 
trained  him  to  energetic  industry,  sharp  conflict  with  natural 
obstacles,  and  the  use  of  protective  force.  Nevertheless  his 
inheritance  and  his  environment  alike  predispose  him  to  con- 
demn military  establishments,  a  military  class,  and  militarism 
in  general.    He  is  and  means  to  be  a  freeman. 

A  genuine  American  regards  his  government  as  his  servant 
and  not  as  his  master,  and  will  have  no  chief  executive  in  city, 
state,  or  nation  except  an  elected  executive.  He  recognizes  that 
men  are  not  equal  as  regards  native  capacity  or  acquired  power, 
but  desires  that  all  men  shall  be  equal  before  the  law  and  that 
every  individual  human  being  —  child  or  adult — shall  have  his 
just  opportunity  to  do  his  best  for  the  common  good.  He  be- 
lieves in  universal  education  and  is  always  desiring  the  im- 
provement of  the  free  schools.  In  respect  to  this  desire  for 
education,  however,  many  of  the  most  recent  Americans  outdo 
some  of  the  earlier  ones — particularly  in  the  zeal  and  assiduity 
of  their  children  in  school. 

As  a  result  of  his  own  experience  in  public  affairs  and  of  his 
ancestors'  experience,  a  true  American  always  acquiesces  in  the 
decision  of  a  majority  of  the  legitimate  participants  in  an  elec- 
tion or  other  public  contest.  This  is  an  American  trait  of  high 
political  value.  It  makes  American  political  and  social  progress, 
as  a  rule,  a  peaceful  evolution.  People  who  have  long  been 
helpless  under  political  or  ecclesiastical  oppression,  and  have 
had  no  practice  in  self-government,  have  difficulty  in  acquiring 
this  trait. 

The  characteristic  American  believes,  first,  in  justice  as  the 
foundation  of  civilized  government  and  society,  and,  next,  in 


4       VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

freedom  for  the  individual,  so  far  as  that  freedom  is  possible 
without  interference  with  the  equal  rights  of  others.  He  con- 
ceives that  both  justice  and  freedom  are  to  be  secured  through 
piopular  respect  for  the  laws  enacted  by  the  elected  representa- 
tives of  the  people  and  through  the  faithful  observance  of  those 
laws,  and  because  of  his  confidence  in  law  as  the  enactment 
of  justice  and  the  security  for  freedom,  he  utterly  condemns  all 
lawless  practices  by  public  servants,  private  citizens,  or  groups 
of  citizens.  For  him  lawless  violence  is  the  worst  offense  which 
can  be  committed  by  either  the  governors  or  the  governed. 
Hence  he  distrusts  legislation  which  is  not  faithfully  executed, 
and  believes  that  unsuccessful  legislation  should  not  lapse,  but 
be  repealed  or  replaced.  It  should  be  observed,  however,  that 
American  justice  in  general  keeps  in  view  the  present  common 
good  of  the  vast  majority,  and  the  restoration  rather  than  the 
punishment  of  the  exceptional  malignant  or  defective  indi- 
vidual. Indeed,  the  American  conception  of  justice  is  very 
different  from  that  of  traditional  Christian  theology,  or  of  feudal 
institutions,  or  of  any  of  the  despotic  governments.  It  is  es- 
sentially democratic ;  and  especially  it  finds  sufferings  inflicted 
on  the  innocent  unintelligible  and  abhorrent. 

The  American  believes  that  if  men  are  left  free  in  the  planning 
and  conduct  of  their  lives  they  will  win  more  success  in  the  pro- 
fessions, the  trades,  and  the  industries  than  they  will  if  their 
lives  are  regulated  for  them  by  some  superior  power,  even  if 
that  power  be  more  intelligent  and  better  informed  than  they. 
Blind  obedience  and  implicit  submission  to  the  will  of  another 
do  not  commend  themselves  to  characteristic  Americans.  The 
discipline  in  which  they  believe  is  the  voluntary  cooperation 
of  several  or  many  persons  in  the  orderly  and  effective  pursuit 
of  common  ends.  Yet  Americans  are  capable  of  intense  col- 
lective action  when  they  see  that  such  action  is  necessary  to 
efficiency  or  to  the  security  of  the  community  as  a  whole. 
Thus  they  submit  willingly  to  any  restrictions  on  individual 
liberty  which  can  be  shown  to  be  necessary  to  the  preservation 
of  the  public  healthy  and  they  are  capable  of  the  most  effective 
cooperation  at  need  in  business,  sports,  and  war. 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  5 

Such  are  the  common  ideals,  hopes,  and  aims  of  the  hetero- 
geneous peoples  assembled  on  the  territory  of  the  United  States. 
Whoever  accepts  them  and  governs  his  life  by  them  is  an  Amer- 
ican, whatever  his  origin,  race,  or  station.  No  other  assimilation 
of  different  national  stocks  is  needed — or  is  even  desirable — 
than  this  acceptance  of  the  common  American  ideals  ;  but 
with  this  acceptance  should  go,  and  ordinarily  does  go,  an 
ardent  love  of  the  new  country  and  its  liberal  institutions,  a 
love  not  inconsistent  with  an  affectionate  regard  for  the  old 
country  from  which  the  original  immigrant  into  America  took 
his  resolute  departure. 


LAW  AND  LIBERTY^ 

Elihu  Root 

[Elihu  Root  (1845-  )  was  educated  at  Hamilton  College  and 
is  one  of  the  foremost  American  statesmen  of  today.  His  chief 
public  services  have  been  as  Secretary  of  War  under  Presidents 
McKinley  and  Roosevelt,  Secretary  of  State  under  President  Roose- 
velt, and  senator  from  New  York  from  iqoq  to  1915.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Hague  Tribunal  in  igio  and  has  rendered  important 
services  to  the  settlement  of  international  problems.  In  1912  he 
was  awarded  the  Nobel  Peace  Prize.] 

Insistence  upon  hasty  and  violent  methods  rather  than 
orderly  and  deliberate  methods  is  really  a  result  of  impatience 
with  the  slow  methods  of  true  progress  in  popular  government. 
We  should  probably  make  little  progress  were  there  not  in 
every  generation  some  men  who,  realizing  evils,  are  eager  for 
reform,  impatient  of  delay,  indignant  at  opposition,  and  in- 
tolerant of  the  long,  slow  processes  by  which  the  great  body 
of  the  people  may  consider  new  proposals  in  all  their  relations, 
weigh  their  advantages  and  disadvantages,  discuss  their  merits, 
and  become  educated  either  to  their  acceptance  or  rejection. 

^Froni  "Experiments  in  Government  and  Essentials  of  the  Constitu- 
tion." Copyright,  1913,  by  the  Princeton  University  Press.  Reprinted 
by  permission. 


6  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

Yet  that  is  the  method  of  progress  in  which  no  step,  once 
taken,  needs  to  be  retraced,  and  it  is  the  only  way  in  which  a 
democracy  can  avoid  destroying  its  institutions  by  the  impul- 
sive substitution  of  novel  and  attractive  but  impracticable 
expedients. 

The  wisest  of  all  the  fathers  of  the  Republic  has  spoken,  not 
for  his  own  day  alone  but  for  all  generations  to  come  after  him, 
in  the  solemn  admonitions  of  the  Farewell  Address.  It  was  to 
us  that  Washington  spoke  when  he  said : 

The  basis  of  our  political  systems  is  the  right  of  the  people  to 
make  and  to  alter  their  constitutions  of  government,  but  the  Consti- 
tution which  at  any  time  exists,  till  changed  by  an  explicit  and 
authentic  act  of  the  whole  people,  is  sacredly  obligatory  upon  all. 
.  .  .  Towards  the  preservation  of  your  Government  and  the  perma- 
nency of  your  present  happy  state  it  is  requisite  not  only  that  you 
steadily  discountenance  irregular  oppositions  to  its  acknowledged 
authority,  but  also  that  you  resist  with  care  the  spirit  of  innovation 
upon  its  principles,  however  specious  the  pretexts.  One  method 
of  assault  may  be  to  effect  in  the  forms  of  the  Constitution  altera- 
tions which  will  impair  the  energy  of  the  system,  and  thus  to  under- 
mine what  cannot  be  directly  overthrown.  In  all  the  changes  to 
which  you  may  be  invited  remember  that  time  and  habit  are  at 
least  as  necessary  to  fix  the  true  character  of  governments  as  of 
other  human  institutions  ;  that  experience  is  the  surest  standard 
by  which  to  test  the  real  tendency  of  the  existing  constitution  of  a 
country  ;  that  facility  in  changes,  upon  the  credit  of  mere  hypothe- 
sis and  opinion,  exposes  to  perpetual  changes  from  the  endless 
variety  of  hypothesis  and  opinion. 

While  in  the  nature  of  things  each  generation  must  assume 
the  task  of  adapting  the  working  of  its  government  to  new 
conditions  of  life  as  they  arise,  it  would  be  the  folly  of  ignorant 
conceit  for  any  generation  to  assume  that  it  can  lightly  and 
easily  improve  upon  the  work  of  the  founders  in  those  matters 
which  are,  by  their  nature,  of  universal  application  to  the 
permanent  relations  of  men  in  civil  society. 

Religion,  the  philosophy  of  morals^  the  teaching  of  history, 
the  experience  of  every  human  life,  point  to  the  same  con- 
clusion— that  in  the  practical  conduct  of  life  the  most  diffi- 
cult and  the  most  necessary  virtue  is  self-restraint.    It  is  the 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  7 

first  lesson  of  childhood ;  it  is  the  quality  for  which  great 
monarchs  are  most  highly  praised ;  the  man  who  has  it  not 
is  feared  and  shunned  ;  it  is  needed  most  where  power  is 
greatest ;  it  is  needed  more  by  men  acting  in  a  mass  than  by 
individuals,  because  men  in  the  mass  are  more  irresponsible 
and  difficult  of  control  than  individuals.  The  makers  of  our 
Constitution,  wise  and  earnest  students  of  history  and  of  life, 
discerned  the  great  truth  that  self-restraint  is  the  supreme 
necessity  and  the  supreme  virtue  of  a  democracy.  The  people 
of  the  United  States  have  exercised  that  virtue  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  rules  of  right  action  in  what  we  call  the  limitations 
of  the  Constitution,  and  until  this  day  they  have  rigidly  ob- 
served those  rules.  The  general  judgment  of  students  of  gov- 
ernment is  that  the  success  and  permanency  of  the  American 
system  of  government  are  due  to  the  establishment  and  observ- 
ance of  such  general  rules  of  conduct.  Let  us  change  and  adapt 
our  laws  as  the  shifting  conditions  of  the  times  require,  but 
let  us  never  abandon  or  weaken  this  fundamental  and  essential 
characteristic  of  our  ordered  liberty. 


THE    RIGHT  ATTITUDE    FOR   THE   AMERICAN 
CITIZEN  1 

Charles  Evans  Hughes 

[Charles  Evans  Hughes  (1862-  )  was  educated  at  Brown  Uni- 
versity and  first  came  into  prominence  by  his  fearless  investigation 
of  insurance  companies  in  New  York  City.  He  served  as  gover- 
nor of  New  York  and  as  an  associate  justice  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court.  In  19 16  he  was  the  Republican  candidate  for  presi- 
dent. In  192 1  he  became  Secretary  of  State.  The  present  selection 
is  part  of  an  address  delivered  at  Yale  in  1910,  and  vigorously 
restates  in  terms  of  today  "the  pubhc  duty  of  educated  men."J 

I  desire  to  consider  the  fundamental  question  of  attitude  and 
the  principles  of  action  which  must  be  regarded  as  essential  to 
the  faithful  discharge  of  the  civic  duties. 

^From  "Conditions  of  Progress  in  Democratic  Government."  Copy- 
right, 1910,  by  the  Yale  University  Press.     Reprinted  by  permission. 


8       VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

It  is  of  first  importance  that  there  should  be  sympathy  with 
democratic  ideals.  1  do  not  refer  to  the  conventional  attitude 
commonly  assumed  in  American  utterances  and  always  taken 
on  patriotic  occasions.  I  mean  the  sincere  love  of  democracy. 
As  Montesquieu  says :  "A  love  of  the  republic  in  a  democracy 
is  a  love  of  the  democracy  ;  as  the  latter  is  that  of  equality." 

It  would  be  difticult  to  find  an  association  in  which  wealth 
or  family  or  station  are  of  less  consequence  and  in  which  a 
young  man  is  appraised  more  nearly  at  his  actual  worth  than 
in  an  American  college.  Despite  the  increase  of  luxury  in 
college  living,  the  number  of  rich  men's  sons  who  frequent 
these  institutions,  and  the  amount  of  money  lavishly  and 
foolishly  expended,  our  colleges  are  still  wholesomely  demo- 
cratic. A  young  man  who  is  decent,  candid,  and  honorable 
in  his  dealings  will  not  suffer  because  he  is  poor,  or  his  parents 
are  obscure,  and  the  fact  that  he  may  earn  his  living  in  humble 
employment  in  order  to  pay  for  his  education  will  not  cost 
him  the  esteem  of  his  fellows.  He  will  be  rated,  as  the  rich 
man's  son  will  be  rated,  at  the  worth  of  his  character,  judged 
by  the  standards  of  youth  which  maintain  truth  and  fair  deal- 
ing and  will  not  tolerate  cant  or  sham.  This  is  so  largely  true 
that  it  may  be  treated  as  the  rule,  and  regrettable  departures 
from  it  as  the  exception. 

But  a  larger  sympathy  and  appreciation  are  needed.  The 
young  man  who  goes  out  into  life  favorably  disposed  toward 
those  who  have  had  much  the  same  environment  and  oppor- 
tunity may  still  be  lacking  in  the  broader  sympathy  which 
should  embrace  all  his  fellow  countrymen.  He  may  be  tolerant 
and  democratic  with  respect  to  those  who,  despite  differences 
in  birth  and  fortune,  he  may  regard  as  kindred  spirits,  and  yet 
in  his  relation  to  men  at  large,  to  the  great  majority  of  his  fel- 
low beings^  be  little  better  than  a  snob.  Or  despite  the  cama- 
raderie of  college  intercourse  he  may  have  developed  a  cynical 
disposition  or  an  intellectual  aloofness  which,  while  not  marked 
enough  to  interfere  with  success  in  many  vocations  or  to  dis- 
turb his  conventional  relations,  largely  disqualifies  him  from 
aiding  his  community  as  a  public-spirited  citizen.  The  primary 
object  of  education  is  to  emancipate — to  free  from  superstition, 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  9 

from  the  tyranny  of  worn-out  notions,  from  the  prejudices, 
large  and  small,  which  enslave  the  judgment.  His  study  of 
history  and  of  the  institutions  of  his  country,  has  been  to  little 
purpose  if  the  college  man  has  not  caught  the  vision  of  democ- 
racy and  has  not  been  joined  by  the  troth  of  heart  and 
conscience  to  the  great  human  brotherhood  which  is  working 
out  its  destiny  in  this  land  of  opportunity. 

The  true  citizen  will  endeavor  to  understand  the  different 
racial  viewpoints  of  the  various  elements  which  enter  into  our 
population.  He  will  seek  to  divest  himself  of  antipathy  or 
prejudice  toward  any  of  those  who  have  come  to  us  from 
foreign  lands,  and  he  will  try,  by  happy  illustration  in  his  own 
conduct,  to  hasten  appreciation  of  the  American  ideal.  For 
him  "American"  will  ever  be  a  word  of  the  spirit  and  not  of 
the  flesh.  Difference  in  custom  or  religion  will  not  be  per- 
mitted to  obscure  the  common  human  worth,  nor  will  bigotry 
of  creed  or  relation  prevent  a  just  appraisement.  The  pitiful 
revelations  of  ignorance  and  squalor,  of  waste  and  folly,  will 
not  sap  his  faith.  He  will  patiently  seek  truly  to  know  himself 
and  others,  and  with  fraternal  insight  to  enter  into  the  world's 
work,  to  share  the  joys  of  accomplishment,  and  to  help  in  the 
bearing  of  the  burdens  of  misery.  He  will  be  free  from  the 
prejudice  of  occupation  or  of  residence.  He  will  not  look 
askance  either  at  city  or  at  country.  For  him  any  honest 
work  will  be  honorable,  and  those  who  are  toiling  with  their 
hands  will  not  be  merely  economic  factors  of  work  but  human 
beings  of  like  passions  and  possessed  of  the  "  certain  unalien- 
able rights."  Neither  birth  nor  station,  neither  circumstance 
nor  vocation,  will  win  or  prevent  the  esteem  to  which  fidelity, 
honesty,  and  sincerity  are  alone  entitled.  He  will  look  neither 
up  nor  down,  but  with  even  eye  will  seek  to  read  the  hearts 
of  men. 

This  sense  of  sympathetic  relation  should  increase  respect 
both  for  individual  interests  and  for  community  interests  and 
should  give  a  better  understanding  of  what  is  involved  in  each. 
They  are  not  in  opposition  ;  properly  speaking,  they  cannot 
be  divorced.  By  individual  interests  I  mean  those  interests 
which  concern  the  normal  development  of  the  individual  life, 


10      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

which  relate  to  freedom  in  choice  of  work  and  individual  pur- 
suits, to  the  conservation  of  opportunities  for  the  play  of 
imlividual  talent  and  initiative,  to  the  enjoyment  of  property 
honestly  acquired.  The  liberty  of  the  individual  in  communi- 
ties must  of  course  be  restrained  by  the  mutual  requirements 
imposed  upon  each  by  the  equal  rights  of  others  and  by  the 
demands  of  the  common  welfare.  It  may  be  difficult  to  define 
the  precise  limitations  of  such  restrictions,  but  the  guiding 
principle  must  be  that  the  common  interest  cannot  be  pre- 
served if  individual  incentive  is  paralyzed,  and  that  to  preserve 
individual  incentive  there  must  be  scope  for  individual  effort 
freely  expended  along  lines  freely  chosen  and  crowned  by 
advantages  individually  acquired  and  held.  There  is  no  al- 
chemy which  can  transmute  the  poverty  of  individual  hope 
into  communal  riches.  Restrictions,  to  be  justified,  must  be 
such  as  are  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  wholesome  life 
and  to  prevent  the  liberty  of  some  from  accomplishing  the 
enthraldom  of  all. 


The  citizen  should  contribute  something  more  than  sympathy 
with  democracy,  something  more  than  respect  for  individual 
and  community  interests,  something  more  than  adherence  to 
the  standards  of  fair  dealing.  Sympathy  and  sentiment  will 
fail  of  practical  effect  without  independence  of  character. 
A  man  owes  it  to  himself  so  to  conduct  his  life  that  it  be 
recognized  that  his  assent  cannot  be  expected  until  he  has  been 
convinced.  He  should  exhibit  that  spirit  of  self-reliance,  that 
sense  of  individual  responsibility  in  forming  and  stating  opinion, 
which  proclaims  that  he  is  a  man  and  not  a  marionette.  This 
of  course  is  a  matter  of  degree  varying  with  personality  and 
depends  for  its  beneficial  effect  upon  intelligence  and  tact.  None 
the  less  the  emphasis  is  needed.  There  are  so  many  who  with 
respect  to  public  affairs  lead  a  life  largely  of  self-negation ! 
They  are  constantly  registering  far  below  their  capacity  and 
never  show  anything  like  the  accomplishment  for  which  they 
were  constructed  and  equipped.  We  have  too  many  high-power 
vessels  whose  power  is  never  used. 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  11 

It  is  constantly  urged  that  men  must  act  in  groups  and 
through  organizations  to  accomplish  anything.  This  is  ob- 
viously true,  and  describes  such  a  marked  tendency  that  it 
is  hardly  necessary  to  point  the  lesson.  The  difficulty  is  not 
to  get  men  to  act  in  groups  and  through  organization,  but  to 
have  groups  and  organizations  act  properly  and  wisely  by 
reason  of  the  individual  force  and  independent  strength  of 
their  members.  Groups  and  organizations  constantly  tend  to 
represent  the  influence  and  power  of  one  man  or  a  few  men, 
who  are  followed  not  because  they  are  right  but  because  they 
lead,  and  who  maintain  themselves  not  so  much  by  the  pro- 
priety and  worth  of  leadership  as  by  their  skill  and  acumen  in 
availing  themselves  of  the  indifference  of  others  and  by  use  of 
solicitations,  blandishments,  and  patronage.  This  is  illustrated 
in  all  forms  of  association,  and,  to  the  extent  that  it  exists, 
the  association  loses  its  strength  and  capacity  to  accomplish 
the  results  for  which  it  is  intended.  Groups  and  organizations 
within  democracy  depend  upon  the  same  conditions  as  those 
which  underlie  the  larger  society.  If  they  come  into  the  strong 
control  of  a  few  by  reason  of  the  indifference  and  subservience 
of  the  many,  the  form,  is  retained  without  the  substance,  and 
the  benefits  of  cooperative  action  are  lost. 

It  is  of  course  a  counsel  of  wisdom  that  men  should  be  tactful 
and  desirous  of  cooperating,  and  not  in  a  constant  state  of 
rebellion  against  every  effort  at  group  action.  But  men  who 
are  eccentric  and  impossible  are  proof  against  counsel,  and  their 
peculiarities  simply  illustrate  the  exceptional  and  abnormal 
in  society.  The  normal  man  naturally  tends  to  work  with 
others  ;  to  him  the  sentiment  of  loyalty  makes  a  powerful 
appeal.  And  the  counsel  that  is  most  needed  is  that  men  in 
the  necessary  action  of  groups  should  not  lose  their  individual 
power  for  good  by  blind  following.  The  man  who  would  meet 
the  responsibilities  of  citizenship  must  determine  that  he  will 
endeavor  justly,  after  availing  himself  of  all  the  privileges 
which  contact  and  study  afford,  to  reach  a  conclusion  which  for 
him  is  a  true  conclusion,  and  that  the  action  of  his  group  shall 
if  possible  not  be  taken  until,  according  to  his  opportunity 
and  his  range  of  influence,  his  point  of  view  has  been  presented 


12  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

and  considered.  This  docs  not  imply  sheer  obstinacy  or  opinion- 
ated stubbornness.  Progress  consists  of  a  series  of  approxi- 
mations. But  it  does  imply  self-respect,  conscientious  effort  to 
be  sound  in  opinion,  respect  for  similar  efforts  on  the  part  of 
others,  and  accommodations  in  the  sincere  desire  for  coopera- 
tive achievement  which  shall  be  rational  and  shall  be  sensibly 
determined  in  the  light  of  all  facts  and  of  all  proposals.  It 
also  implies  that  there  shall  be  no  surrender  that  will  compro- 
mise personal  integrity  or  honor,  or  barter  for  gain  or  success 
one's  fidelity  to  the  oath  of  office  or  to  the  obligation  of 
public  trust. 

A  consideration  of  the  obstacles  which  are  found  to  be  suc- 
cessfully interposed  to  this  course  is  not  flattering  to  those  of 
our  citizens  who  have  had  the  greatest  advantages.  There 
is,  in  the  first  place,  the  base  feeling  of  fear.  Lawyers  are 
afraid  that  they  will  lose  clients ;  bankers,  that  they  will  lose 
deposits  ;  ministers,  that  important  pewholders  will  withdraw 
their  support ;  those  who  manage  public-service  corporations, 
that  they  will  suffer  retaliation.  Throughout  the  community 
is  this  benumbing  dread  of  personal  loss  which  keeps  men 
quiet  and  servile. 

The  first  lesson  for  a  young  man  who  faces  the  world  with 
his  career  in  his  own  hands  is  that  he  must  be  willing  to  do 
without.  The  question  for  him  at  the  start  and  ever  after  must 
be  not  simply  what  he  wants  to  get  but  what  he  is  willing  to 
lose.  "Whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  shall  preserve  it"  is  the 
profoundest  lesson  of  philosophy.  No  one  can  fight  as  a  good 
soldier  the  battles  of  democracy  who  is  constantly  seeking  cover. 

But  still  more  influential  is  the  desire  to  avoid  controversy 
and  to  let  things  go.  The  average  American  is  good-hearted, 
genial,  and  indisposed  not  simply  to  provoke  a  quarrel  but 
even  to  enter  into  a  discussion.  By  the  constant  play  of  his 
humor  he  seeks  to  avoid  sharp  contacts  or  expression  of 
differences.  But  independence  of  conviction  and  the  exercise 
of  one's  proper  influence  do  not  imply  either  ill  nature  or 
constant  collisions  with  opposing  forces.  The  power  of  the  man 
who  is  calm  and  temperate,  just  and  deliberate,  who  seeks  to 
know  the  truth  and  to  act  according  to  his  honest  convictions, 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  13 

is  after  all  not  best  figured  by  the  force  of  arms  but  by  the 
gracious  influence  of  sunshine  and  of  rain  and  the  quiet  play 
of  the  beneficent  forces  of  nature.  In  suitably  expressing  his 
individuality,  in  presenting  his  point  of  view,  he  need  not  sacri- 
fice his  geniality  or  the  pleasures  of  companionship,  which  are 
always  enhanced  by  mutual  respect. 

Then  there  are  the  fetters  of  accumulated  obligations.  The 
strongest  appeal  that  can  be  made  to  an  American  is  to  his 
generous  sense  of  obligation  because  of  favors  received.  Men 
whom  no  wealth  could  bribe  and  no  promise  could  seduce  will 
fall  in  public  life  victims  to  a  chivalrous  regard  for  those  who 
have  helped  them  climb  to  public  place.  This  is  because  of  a 
strange  inversion  of  values.  The  supposed  private  debt  is 
counted  more  important  than  the  public  duty.  But  there  are 
no  obligations  which  friendship  or  kindly  action  can  impose 
at  the  expense  of  public  service.  It  is  simply  a  perverted  senti- 
ment which  suggests  such  a  demand  or  the  necessity  of  meeting 
it.  It  is  a  strange  notion,  which  courses  in  ethics  and  the 
benefits  of  higher  education  so  frequently  find  it  difficult,  if 
not  impossible,  to  dislodge. 

Whether  you  like  it  or  not,  the  majority  will  rule.  Accept 
loyally  the  democratic  principle.  The  voice  of  the  majority 
is  that  neither  of  God  nor  of  devil,  but  of  men.  Do  not  be 
abashed  to  be  found  with  the  minority,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
do  not  affect  superiority  or  make  the  absurd  mistake  of  think- 
ing you  are  right  or  entitled  to  special  credit  merely  because 
you  do  not  agree  with  the  common  judgment.  Your  experience 
of  life  cannot  fail  to  impress  you  with  the  soundness  of  that 
judgment  in  the  long  run,  and  I  believe  you  will  come  to  put 
your  trust,  as  I  do,  in  the  common  sense  of  the  people  of  this 
country  and  in  the  verdicts  they  give  after  the  discussions  of 
press,  of  platform,  and  of  ordinary  intercourse.  The  dangers 
of  the  overthrow  of  reason  and  of  the  reign  of  passion  and 
prejudice  become  serious  only  as  resentment  is  kindled  by 
abuses  for  which  those  who  have  no  sympathy  with  popular 
government  and  constantly  decry  what  they  call  "mob  rule" 
are  largely  responsible.  But  whether  the  common  judgment 
shall  exhibit  that  intelligence  and  self-restraint  which  have  given 


14  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

tt)  our  system  of  government  so  large  a  degree  of  success  wil? 
(leponcl  upon  your  attitude  and  that  of  the  young  men  of  the 
country  who  will  determine  the  measure  of  capacity  for  self- 
government  and  progress  in  the  coming  years. 

Prize  your  birthright  and  let  your  attitude  toward  all  public 
questions  be  characterized  by  such  sincere,  democratic  sym- 
pathy, such  enthusiasm  for  the  common  weal,  such  genuine 
love  of  justice,  and  such  force  of  character  that  your  life  to 
the  full  extent  of  your  talent  and  opportunity  shall  contribute 
to  the  reality,  the  security,  and  the  beneficence  of  government 
by  the  people. 


A  CHARTER  OF  DEMOCRACY^ 

Theodore  Roosevelt 

[Theodore  Roosevelt  (1858-1919)  was  educated  at  Harvard. 
Early  entering  public  life,  he  first  became  prominent  as  president 
of  the  Police  Board  of  New  York  City.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
Spanish-American  War  he  was  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
but  soon  resigned  to  organize,  with  Leonard  Wood,  the  cavalry 
regiment  known  as  the  "Rough  Riders."  Elected  vice  president 
in  1900,  he  became  president  upon  the  death  of  McKinley  and 
continued  in  office  until  1909.  In  his  younger  days  he  spent  several 
years  on  a  ranch  in  North  Dakota,  and  after  retiring  from  the 
presidency  traveled  to  Brazil  and  East  Africa  on  exploring  and 
hunting  expeditions.  As  a  historian  he  is  known  for  his  "Naval 
War  of  1812"  (1882)  and  his  "Winning  of  the  West"  (1896);  as 
a  biographer,  for  his  lives  of  Thomas  H.  Benton,  Gouverneur  Morris, 
and  Oliver  Cromwell.  Other  books  of  his  are  "Hunting  Trips  of 
a  Ranchman"  (1885),  "Theodore  Roosevelt:  An  Autobiography" 
(1913),  and  "Theodore  Roosevelt's  Letters  to  his  Children"  (1919). 
His  exposition  of  American  democracy  before  the  Ohio  State  Con- 
stitutional Convention  in  191 2,  from  which  the  pages  which  follow 
are  taken,  expresses  very  clearly  the  principles  for  which  he  stood 
during  his  public  career.] 

I  believe  in  pure  democracy.  With  Lincoln,  I  hold  that  ''this 
country,  wdth  its  institutions,  belongs  to  the  people  who  in- 
habit  it.    Whenever   they  shall   grow  weary   of   the   existing 

^From  the  Outlook,  February  24,  1912.    Reprinted  by  permission. 


I 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  15 

government,  they  can  exercise  their  Constitutional  right  of 
amending  it."  We  Progressives  believe  that  the  people  have  the 
right,  the  power,  and  the  duty  to  protect  themselves  and  their 
own  welfare ;  that  human  rights  are  supreme  over  all  other 
rights  ;  that  wealth  should  be  the  servant,  not  the  master,  of  the 
people.  We  believe  that  unless  representative  government  does 
absolutely  represent  the  people  it  is  not  representative  govern- 
ment at  all.  We  test  the  worth  of  all  men  and  all  measures 
by  asking  how  they  contribute  to  the  welfare  of  the  men, 
women,  and  children  of  whom  this  nation  is  composed.  We 
are  engaged  in  one  of  the  great  battles  of  the  age-long  contest 
waged  against  privilege  on  behalf  of  the  common  welfare. 
We  hold  it  a  prime  duty  of  the  people  to  free  our  government 
from  the  control  of  money  in  politics.  For  this  purpose  we 
advocate,  not  as  ends  in  themselves  but  as  weapons  in  the 
hands  of  the  people,  all  governmental  devices  which  will  make 
the  representatives  of  the  people  more  easily  and  certainly 
responsible  to  the  people's  will. 

This  country,  as  Lincoln  said,  belongs  to  the  people.  So' do 
the  natural  resources  which  make  it  rich.  They  supply  the 
basis  of  our  prosperity  now  and  hereafter.  In  preserving  them, 
which  is  a  national  duty,  we  must  not  forget  that  monopoly  is 
based  on  the  control  of  natural  resources  and  natural  advan- 
tages, and  that  it  will  help  the  people  little  to  conserve  our 
natural  wealth  unless  the  benefits  which  it  can  yield  are  secured 
to  the  people.  Let  us  remember,  also,  that  conservation  does 
not  stop  with  the  natural  resources,  but  that  the  principle  of 
making  the  best  use  of  all  we  have  requires  with  equal  or 
greater  insistence  that  we  shall  stop  the  waste  of  human  life  in 
industry,  and  prevent  the  waste  of  human  welfare  which  flows 
from  the  unfair  use  of  concentrated  power  and  wealth  in  the 
hands  of  men  whose  eagerness  for  profit  blinds  them  to  the 
cost  of  what  they  do.  We  have  no  higher  duty  than  to  promote 
the  efficiency  of  the  individual.  There  is  no  surer  road  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  nation. 

I  am  emphatically  a  believer  in  constitutionalism,  and 
because  of  this  fact  I  no  less  emphatically  protest  against 
any  theory  that  would  make  of  the  Constitution  a  means  of 


l6  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

thwarting  instead  of  securing  the  absolute  right  of  the  people  to 
rule  themselves  and  to  provide  for  their  own  social  and  indus- 
trial well-being.  All  constitutions — those  of  the  states  no  less 
than  that  of  the  nation — are  designed  and  must  be  interpreted 
and  administered  so  as  to  fit  human  rights.  Lincoln  so  inter- 
preted and  administered  the  national  Constitution.  Buchanan 
attempted  the  reverse,  attempted  to  fit  human  rights  to,  and 
limit  them  by,  the  Constitution.  It  was  Buchanan  who  treated 
the  courts  as  a  fetish,  who  protested  against  and  condemned 
all  criticism  of  the  judges  for  unjust  and  unrighteous  decisions, 
and  upheld  the  Constitution  as  an  instrument  for  the  pro- 
tection of  privilege  and  of  vested  wrong.  It  was  Lincoln  who 
appealed  to  the  people  against  the  judges  when  the  judges  went 
wrong,  who  advocated  and  secured  what  was  practically  the 
recall  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  who  treated  the  Consti- 
tution as  a  living  force  for  righteousness.  We  stand  for  apply- 
ing the  Constitution  to  the  issues  of  today  as  Lincoln  applied 
it  to  the  issues  of  his  day ;  Lincoln,  mind  you,  and  not 
Buchanan,  was  the  real  upholder  and  preserver  of  the  Consti- 
tution, for  the  true  progressive,  the  progressive  of  the  Lincoln 
stamp,  is  the  only  true  constitutionalist,  the  only  real  conserva- 
tive. The  object  of  every  American  constitution  worth  calling 
such  must  be  what  it  is  set  forth  to  be  in  the  preamble  to  the 
national  Constitution,  "to  establish  justice";  that  is,  to  se- 
cure justice  as  between  man  and  man  by  means  of  genuine 
popular  self-government.  If  the  Constitution  is  successfully 
invoked  to  nullify  the  effort  to  remedy  injustice,  it  is  proof 
positive  either  that  the  Constitution  needs  immediate  amend- 
ment or  else  that  it  is  being  wrongfully  and  improperly  con- 
strued. I  therefore  very  earnestly  ask  you  clearly  to  provide 
in  this  Constitution  means  which  will  enable  the  people  readily 
to  amend  it  if  at  any  point  it  works  injustice,  and  also  means 
which  will  permit  the  people  themselves  b}^  popular  vote,  after 
due  deliberation  and  discussion,  but  finally  and  without  appeal, 
to  settle  what  the  proper  construction  of  any  constitutional 
point  is.  It  is  often  said  that  ours  is  a  government  of  checks 
and  balances.  But  this  should  only  mean  that  these  checks 
and  balances  obtain  as  among  the  several  different  kinds  of 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  1 7 

representatives  of  the  people — judicial,  executive,  and  legis- 
lative—  to  whom  the  people  have  delegated  certain  portions 
of  their  power.  It  does  not  mean  that  the  people  have  parted 
with  their  power  or  cannot  resume  it.  The  "  division  of 
powers"  is  merely  the  division  among  the  representatives  of 
the  powers  delegated  to  them  ;  the  term  must  not  be  held 
to  mean  that  the  people  have  divided  their  power  with  their 
delegates.  The  power  is  the  people's,  and  only  the  people's. 
It  is  right  and  proper  that  provision  should  be  made  render- 
ing it  necessary  for  the  people  to  take  ample  time  to  make 
up  their  minds  on  any  point,  but  there  should  also  be  com- 
plete provision  to  have  their  decision  put  into  immediate  and 
living  effect  when  it  has  thus  been  deliberately  and  definitely 
reached. 

I  hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every  public  servant,  and  of 
every  man  who  in  public  or  in  private  life  holds  a  position  of 
leadership  in  thought  or  action,  to  endeavor  honestly  and 
fearlessly  to  guide  his  fellow  countrymen  to  right  decisions ; 
but  I  emphatically  dissent  from  the  view  that  it  is  either  wise 
or  necessary  to  try  to  devise  methods  which  under  the  Consti- 
tution will  automatically  prevent  the  people  from  deciding  for 
themselves  what  governmental  action  they  deem  just  and 
proper.  It  is  impossible  to  invent  constitutional  devices  which 
will  prevent  the  popular  will  from  being  effective  for  wrong 
without  also  preventing  it  from  being  effective  for  right.  The 
only  safe  course  to  follow  in  this  great  American  democracy  is 
to  provide  for  making  the  popular  judgment  really  effective. 
When  this  is  done,  then  it  is  our  duty  to  see  that  the  people, 
having  the  full  power,  realize  their  heavy  responsibility  for 
exercising  that  power  aright.  But  it  is  a  false  constitutionalism, 
a  false  statesmanship,  to  endeavor  by  the  exercise  of  a  per- 
verted ingenuity  to  seem  to  give  the  people  full  power  and  at 
the  same  time  to  trick  them  out  of  it.  Yet  this  is  precisely 
what  is  done  in  every  case  where  the  state  permits  its  repre- 
sentatives, whether  on  the  bench  or  in  the  legislature  or  in 
executive  office,  to  declare  that  it  has  not  the  power  to  right 
grave  social  wrongs,  or  that  any  of  the  officers  created  by  the 
people,   and   rightfully   the  servants  of   the  people,   can  set 


l8  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

themselves  up  to  be  the  masters  of  the  people.  Constitution 
makers  should  make  it  clear  beyond  shadow  of  doubt  that  the 
people  in  their  legislative  capacity  have  the  power  to  enact 
into  law  any  measure  they  deem  necessary  for  the  betterment 
of  social  and  industrial  conditions.  The  wisdom  of  framing 
any  particular  law  of  this  kind  is  a  proper  subject  of  debate, 
but  the  power  of  the  people  to  enact  the  law  should  not  be 
subject  to  debate.  To  hold  the  contrary  view  is  to  be  false  to 
the  cause  of  the  people,  to  the  cause  of  American  democracy. 

Lincoln,  with  his  clear  vision,  his  ingrained  sense  of  justice, 
and  his  spirit  of  kindly  friendliness  to  all,  forecast  our  present 
struggle  and  saw  the  way  out.  What  he  said  should  be  pondered 
by  capitalist  and  workingman  alike.  He  spoke  as  follows 
(I  condense) : 

I  hold  that  while  man  exists  it  is  his  duty  to  improve  not  only 
his  condition  but  to  assist  in  ameliorating  mankind.  Labor  is  prior 
to  and  independent  of  capital.  Labor  is  the  superior  of  capital, 
and  deserves  much  the  higher  consideration.  Capital  has  its  rights, 
which  are  as  worthy  of  protection  as  any  other  rights.  Nor  should 
this  lead  to  a  war  upon  property.  Property  is  the  fruit  of  labor. 
Property  is  desirable,  is  a  positive  good  in  the  world.  Let  not  him 
who  is  houseless  pull  down  the  house  of  another,  but  let  him  work 
diligently  and  build  one  for  himself,  thus  by  example  assuring  that 
his  own  shall  be  safe  from  violence  when  built. 

This  last  sentence  characteristically  shows  Lincoln's  homely, 
kindly  common  sense.  His  is  the  attitude  that  we  ought  to  take. 
He  showed  the  proper  sense  of  proportion  in  his  relative  esti- 
mates of  capital  and  labor,  of  human  rights  and  the  rights  of 
wealth.  Above  all,  in  what  he  thus  said,  as  on  so  many  other 
occasions,  he  taught  the  indispensable  lesson  of  the  need  of 
wise  kindliness  and  charity,  of  sanity  and  moderation,  in  the 
dealings  of  men  one  with  another. 

We  should  discriminate  between  two  purposes  we  have  in 
view.  The  first  is  the  effort  to  provide  what  are  themselves 
the  ends  of  good  government ;  the  second  is  the  effort  to  pro- 
vide proper  machinery  for  the  achievement  of  these  ends. 

The  ends  of  good  government  in  our  democracy  are  to 
secure  by  genuine  popular  rule  a  high  average  of  moral  and 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  19 

material  well-being  among  our  citizens.  It  has  been  well  said 
that  in  the  past  we  have  paid  attention  only  to  the  accumula- 
tion of  prosperity,  and  that  from  henceforth  we  must  pay 
equal  attention  to  the  proper  distribution  of  prosperity.  This 
is  true.  The  only  prosperity  worth  having  is  that  which  affects 
the  mass  of  the  people.  We  are  bound  to  strive  for  the  fair 
distribution  of  prosperity.  But  it  behooves  us  to  remember 
that  there  is  no  use  in  devising  methods  for  the  proper  distribu- 
tion of  prosperity  unless  the  prosperity  is  there  to  distribute. 
I  hold  it  to  be  our  duty  to  see  that  the  wage  worker,  the  small 
producer,  the  ordinary  consumer^  shall  get  their  fair  share  of 
the  benefit  of  business  prosperity.  But  it  either  is  or  ought  to 
be  evident  to  everyone  that  business  has  to  prosper  before 
anybody  can  get  any  benefit  from  it.  Therefore  I  hold  that 
he  is  the  real  progressive,  that  he  is  the  genuine  champion  of 
the  people,  who  endeavors  to  shape  the  policy  alike  of  the 
nation  and  of  the  several  states  so  as  to  encourage  legitimate 
and  honest  business  at  the  same  time  that  he  wars  against 
all  crookedness  and  injustice  and  unfairness  and  tyranny  in 
the  business  world  (for  of  course  we  can  only  get  business  put 
on  a  basis  of  permanent  prosperity  when  the  element  of  in- 
justice is  taken  out  of  it).  This  is  the  reason  why  I  have  for 
so  many  years  insisted,  as  regards  our  national  government, 
that  it  is  both  futile  and  mischievous  to  endeavor  to  correct 
the  evils  of  big  business  by  an  attempt  to  restore  business  con- 
ditions as  they  were  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  before 
railways  and  telegraphs  had  rendered  larger  business  organiza- 
tions both  inevitable  and  desirable.  The  effort  to  restore  such 
conditions  and  to  trust  for  justice  solely  to  such  proposed 
restoration  is  as  foolish  as  if  we  should  attempt  to  arm  our 
troops  with  the  flintlocks  of  Washington's  Continentals  instead 
of  with  modern  weapons  of  precision.  Flintlock  legislation,  of 
the  kind  that  seeks  to  prohibit  all  combinations,  good  or  bad, 
is  bound  to  fail ;  and  the  effort,  in  so  far  as  it  accomplishes 
anything  at  all,  merely  means  that  some  of  the  worst  combina- 
tions are  not  checked,  and  that  honest  business  is  checked. 
What  is  needed  is,  first,  the  recognition  that  modern  business 
conditions  have  come  to  stay,  in  so  far  at  least  as   these 


20  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

conditions  mean  that  business  must  be  done  in  larger  units  ;  and 
then  the  cool-headed  and  resolute  determination  to  introduce 
an  effective  method  of  regulating  big  corporations  so  as  to  help 
legitimate  business  as  an  incident  to  thoroughly  and  com- 
pletely safeguarding  the  interests  of  the  people  as  a  whole. 
We  are  a  business  people.  The  tillers  of  the  soil,  the  wage 
workers,  the  business  men — these  are  the  three  big  and  vitally 
important  divisions  of  our  population.  The  welfare  of  each 
division  is  vitally  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  the  people  as  a 
whole.  The  great  mass  of  business  is  of  course  done  by  men 
whose  business  is  either  small  or  of  moderate  size.  The 
middle-sized  business  men  form  an  element  of  strength  which 
is  of  literally  incalculable  value  to  the  nation.  Taken  as  a 
class,  they  are  among  our  best  citizens.  They  have  not  been 
seekers  after  enormous  fortunes ;  they  have  been  moderately 
and  justly  prosperous,  by  reason  of  dealing  fairly  with  their 
customers,  competitors,  and  employees.  They  are  satisfied 
with  a  legitimate  profit  that  will  pay  their  expenses  of  living 
and  lay  by  something  for  those  who  come  after,  and  the  addi- 
tional amount  necessary  for  the  betterment  and  improvement 
of  their  plant.  The  average  business  man  of  this  type  is,  as  a 
rule,  a  leading  citizen  of  his  community,  foremost  in  everj^thing 
that  tells  for  its  betterment,  a  man  whom  his  neighbors  look 
up  to  and  respect ;  he  is  in  no  sense  dangerous  to  his  com- 
munity, just  because  he  is  an  integral  part  of  his  community, 
bone  of  its  bone  and  iiesh  of  its  flesh.  His  life  fibers  are 
intertwined  with  the  life  fibers  of  his  fellow  citizens.  Yet 
nowadays  many  men  of  this  kind,  when  they  come  to  make 
necessary  trade  agreements  with  one  another,  find  themselves 
in  danger  of  becoming  unwitting  transgressors  of  the  law,  and 
are  at  a  loss  to  know  what  the  law  forbids  and  what  it  permits. 
This  is  all  wrong.  There  should  be  a  fixed  governmental 
policy — a  policy  which  shall  clearly  define  and  punish  wrong- 
doing and  shall  give  in  advance  full  information  to  any  man 
as  to  just  what  he  can  and  just  what  he  cannot  legally  and 
properly  do.  It  is  absurd  and  wicked  to  treat  the  deliberate 
lawbreaker  as  on  an  exact  par  with  the  man  eager  to  obey  the 
law,  whose  only  desire  is  to  find  out  from  some  competent 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  2i 

governmental  authority  what  the  law  is  and  then  live  up  to  it. 
It  is  absurd  to  endeavor  to  regulate  business  in  the  interest  of 
the  public  by  means  of  long-drawn  lawsuits  without  any  accom- 
paniment of  administrative  control  and  regulation,  and  with- 
out any  attempt  to  discriminate  between  the  honest  man,  who 
has  succeeded  in  business  because  of  rendering  a  service  to  the 
public,  and  the  dishonest  man,  who  has  succeeded  in  business 
by  cheating  the  public. 

So  much  for  the  small  business  man  and  the  middle-sized 
business  man.  Now  for  big  business.  It  is  imperative  to  exer- 
cise over  big  business  a  control  and  supervision  which  is  un- 
necessary as  regards  small  business.  All  business  must  be 
conducted  under  the  law,  and  all  business  men,  big  or  little, 
must  act  justly.  But  a  wicked  big  interest  is  necessarily  more 
dangerous  to  the  community  than  a  wicked  little  interest. 
"Big  business"  in  the  past  has  been  responsible  for  much  of 
the  special  privilege  which  must  be  unsparingly  cut  out  of  our 
national  life.  I  do  not  believe  in  making  mere  size  of  and  by 
itself  criminal.  The  mere  fact  of  size,  however,  does  unques- 
tionably carry  the  potentiality  of  such  grave  wrongdoing  that 
there  should  be  by  law  provision  made  for  the  strict  super- 
vision and  regulation  of  these  great  industrial  concerns  doing 
an  interstate  business,  much  as  we  now  regulate  the  transpor- 
tation agencies  which  are  engaged  in  interstate  business.  The 
antitrust  law  does  good  in  so  far  as  it  can  be  invoked  against 
combinations  which  really  are  monopolies  or  which  restrict 
production  or  which  artificially  raise  prices.  But  in  so  far  as 
its  workings  are  uncertain,  or  as  it  threatens  corporations  which 
have  not  been  guilty  of  antisocial  conduct,  it  does  harm.  More- 
over, it  cannot  by  itself  accomplish  more  than  a  trifling  part 
of  the  governmental  regulation  of  big  business  which  is  needed. 
The  nation  and  the  states  must  cooperate  in  this  matter. 
Among  the  states  that  have  entered  this  field  Wisconsin  has 
taken  a  leading  place.  Following  Senator  La  Follette,  a  num- 
ber of  practical  workers  and  thinkers  in  Wisconsin  have  turned 
that  state  into  an  experimental  laboratory  of  wise  governmental 
action  in  aid  of  social  and  industrial  justice.  They  have  initiated 
the  kind  of  progressive  government  which  means  not  merely 


22      \ITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

the  preservation  of  true  democracy  but  the  extension  of  the 
principle  of  true  democracy  into  industriahsm  as  well  as  into 
politics.  One  prime  reason  why  the  state  has  been  so  success- 
ful in  this  policy  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  has  done  justice  to 
corporations  precisely  as  it  has  exacted  justice  from  them.  Its 
Public  Utilities  Commission  in  a  recent  report  answered  certain 
critics  as  follows: 

To  be  generous  to  the  people  of  the  state  at  the  expense  of 
justice  to  the  carriers  would  be  a  species  of  official  brigandage  that 
ought  to  hold  the  perpetrators  up  to  the  execration  of  all  honest 
men.  Indeed,  we  have  no  idea  that  the  people  of  Wisconsin  have 
the  remotest  desire  to  deprive  the  railroads  of  the  state  of  aught 
that,  in  equality  and  good  conscience,  belongs  to  them,  and  if  any 
of  them  have,  their  wishes  cannot  be  gratified  by  this  commission. 

This  is  precisely  the  attitude  we  should  take  towards  big 
business.  It  is  the  practical  application  of  the  principle  of  the 
square  deal.  Not  only  as  a  matter  of  justice  but  in  our  own 
interest  we  should  scrupulously  respect  the  rights  of  honest 
and  decent  business  and  should  encourage  it  where  its  activities 
make,  as  they  often  do  make,  for  the  common  good.  It  is  for 
the  advantage  of  all  of  us  when  business  prospers.  It  is  for 
the  advantage  of  all  of  us  to  have  the  United  States  become  the 
leading  nation  in  international  trade,  and  we  should  not  deprive 
this  nation,  we  should  not  deprive  this  people,  of  the  instru- 
ments best  adapted  to  secure  such  international  commercial 
supremacy.  In  other  words,  our  demand  is  that  big  business 
give  the  people  a  square  deal  and  that  the  people  give  a  square 
deal  to  any  man  engaged  in  big  business  who  honestly  en- 
deavors to  do  what  is  right  and  proper. 

On  the  other  hand,  any  corporation,  big  or  little,  which  has 
gained  its  position  by  unfair  methods  and  by  interference  with 
the  rights  of  others,  which  has  raised  prices  or  limited  output 
in  improper  fashion  and  been  guilty  of  demoralizing  and  cor- 
rupt practices,  should  not  only  be  broken  up,  but  it  should  be 
made  the  business  of  some  competent  governmental  body  by 
constant  supervision  to  see  that  it  does  not  come  together  again, 
save  under  such  strict  control  as  to  insure  the  community 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  23 

against  all  danger  of  a  repetition  of  the  bad  conduct.  The 
chief  trouble  with  big  business  has  arisen  from,  the  fact  that 
big  business  has  so  often  refused  to  abide  by  the  principle  of 
the  square  deal ;  the  opposition  which  I  personally  have  en- 
countered from  big  business  has  in  every  case  arisen  not  because 
I  did  not  give  a  square  deal  but  because  I  did. 

All  business  into  which  the  element  of  monopoly  in  any  way 
or  degree  enters,  and  where  it  proves  in  practice  impossible 
totally  to  eliminate  this  element  of  monopoly,  should  be  care- 
fully supervised,  regulated,  and  controlled  by  governmental 
authority  ;  and  such  control  should  be  exercised  by  administra- 
tive, rather  than  by  judicial,  officers.  No  effort  should  be 
made  to  destroy  a  big  corporation  merely  because  it  is  big, 
merely  because  it  has  shown  itself  a  peculiarly  efficient  business 
instrument.  But  we  should  not  fear,  if  necessary,  to  bring  the 
regulation  of  big  corporations  to  the  point  of  controlling  condi- 
tions so  that  the  wage  worker  shall  have  a  wage  more  than 
sufficient  to  cover  the  bare  cost  of  living,  and  hours  of  labor 
not  so  excessive  as  to  wreck  his  strength  by  the  strain  of  un- 
ending toil  and  leave  him  unfit  to  do  his  duty  as  a  good  citizen 
in  the  community.  Where  regulation  by  competition  (which 
is,  of  course,  preferable)  proves  insufficient,  we  should  not 
shrink  from  bringing  governmental  regulation  to  the  point  of 
control  of  monopoly  prices  if  it  should  ever  become  necessary 
to  do  so,  just  as  in  exceptional  cases  railway  rates  are  now 
regulated. 

In  emphasizing  the  part  of  the  administrative  department 
in  regulating  combinations  and  checking  absolute  monopoly, 
I  do  not,  of  course,  overlook  the  obvious  fact  that  the  legisla- 
ture and  the  judiciary  must  do  their  part.  The  legislature 
should  make  it  more  clear  exactly  what  methods  are  illegal, 
and  then  the  judiciary  will  be  in  a  better  position  to  punish 
adequately  and  relentlessly  those  who  insist  on  defying  the 
clear,  legislative  decrees.  I  do  not  believe  any  absolute  private 
monopoly  is  justified,  but  if  our  great  combinations  are  properly 
supervised,  so  that  immoral  practices  are  prevented,  absolute 
monopoly  will  not  come  to  pass,  as  the  laws  of  competition 
and  efficiency  are  against  it. 


24  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

The  important  thing  is  this:  that,  under  such  government 
recognition  as  we  may  give  to  that  which  is  beneficent  and 
wholesome  in  large  business  organizations,  we  shall  be  most 
vigilant  never  to  allow  them  to  crystallize  into  a  condition 
which  shall  make  private  initiative  difficult.  It  is  of  the  utmost 
inifKDrtance  that  in  the  future  we  shall  keep  the  broad  path  of 
opportunity  just  as  open  and  easy  for  our  children  as  it  was 
for  our  fathers  during  the  period  which  has  been  the  glory  of 
America's  industrial  history — that  it  shall  be  not  only  possible 
but  easy  for  an  ambitious  man,  whose  character  has  so  im- 
pressed itself  upon  his  neighbors  that  they  are  willing  to  give 
him  capital  and  credit,  to  start  in  business  for  himself  and,  if 
his  superior  efficiency  deserves  it,  to  triumph  over  the  biggest 
organization  that  may  happen  to  exist  in  his  particular  field. 
Whatever  practices  upon  the  part  of  large  combinations  may 
threaten  to  discourage  such  a  man  or  deny  to  him  that  which 
in  the  judgment  of  the  community  is  a  square  deal  should  be 
specifically  defined  by  the  statutes  as  crimes.  And  in  every 
case  the  individual  corporation  officer  responsible  for  such 
unfair  dealing  should  be  punished. 

We  grudge  no  man  a  fortune  which  represents  his  own 
power  and  sagacity  exercised  with  entire  regard  to  the  welfare 
of  his  fellows.  We  have  only  praise  for  the  business  man  whose 
business  success  comes  as  an  incident  to  doing  good  work  for 
his  fellows.  But  we  should  so  shape  conditions  that  a  fortune 
shall  be  obtained  only  in  honorable  fashion,  in  such  fashion 
that  its  gaining  represents  benefit  to  the  community. 

In  a  word,  then,  our  fundamental  purpose  must  be  to  secure 
genuine  equality  of  opportunity.  No  man  should  receive  a 
dollar  unless  that  dollar  has  been  fairly  earned.  Every  dollar 
received  should  represent  a  dollar's  worth  of  service  rendered. 
No  watering  of  stocks  should  be  permitted  ;  and  it  can  be 
prevented  only  by  close  governmental  supervision  of  all  stock 
issues,  so  as  to  prevent  overcapitalization. 

We  stand  for  the  rights  of  property,  but  we  stand  even  more 
for  the  rights  of  man.  We  will  protect  the  rights  of  the  wealthy 
man,  but  we  maintain  that  he  holds  his  wealth  subject  to  the 


i 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  2$ 

general  right  of  the  community  to  regulate  its  business  use  as 
the  public  welfare  requires. 

We  also  maintain  that  the  nation  and  the  several  states  have 
the  right  to  regulate  the  terms  and  conditions  of  labor  (which 
is  the  chief  element  of  wealth)  directly  in  the  interest  of  the 
common  good.  It  is  our  prime  duty  to  shape  the  industrial 
and  social  forces  so  that  they  may  tell  for  the  material  and 
moral  upbuilding  of  the  farmer  and  the  wage  worker,  just  as 
they  should  do  in  the  case  of  the  business  man.  You,  framers 
of  this  Constitution,  be  careful  so  to  frame  it  that  under  it  the 
people  shall  leave  themselves  free  to  do  whatever  is  necessary 
in  order  to  help  the  farmers  of  the  state  to  get  for  themselves 
and  their  wives  and  children  not  only  the  benefits  of  better 
farming  but  also  those  of  better  business  methods  and  better 
conditions  of  life  on  the  farm. 

Moreover,  shape  your  constitutional  action  so  that  the  people 
will  be  able  through  their  legislative  bodies,  or,  failing  that,  by 
direct  popular  vole,  to  provide  workmen's  compensation  acts, 
to  regulate  the  hours  of  labor  for  children  and  for  women,  to 
provide  for  their  safety  while  at  work,  and  to  prevent  over- 
work or  work  under  unhygienic  or  unsafe  conditions.  See  to 
it  that  no  restrictions  are  placed  upon  legislative  powers  that 
will  prevent  the  enactment  of  laws  under  which  your  people 
can  promote  the  general  welfare,  the  common  good.  Thus  only 
will  the  "general  welfare"  clause  of  our  Constitution  become 
a  vital  force  for  progress,  instead  of  remaining  a  mere  phrase. 
This  also  applies  to  the  police  powers  of  the  government.  Make 
it  perfectly  clear  that  on  every  point  of  this  kind  it  is  your 
intention  that  the  people  shall  decide  for  themselves  how  far 
the  laws  to  achieve  their  purposes  shall  go,  and  that  their  deci- 
sion shall  be  binding  upon  every  citizen  in  the  state,  official  or 
nonofficial,  unless,  of  course,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  nation 
in  any  given  case  decides  otherwise. 

So  much  for  the  ends  of  government. 


2  6  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT— AMERICAN ^ 
Leonard  Wood 

[Leonard  Wood  (i860-  )  was  graduated  from  the  Har\-ard 
University  Medical  School  in  1884  and  entered  the  Army  Medical 
Corps.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Spanish-American  War  he  became 
colonel  of  the  "  Rough  Riders,"  a  volunteer  cavalry  regiment  which 
he  organized  with  Theodore  Roosevelt.  He  served  in  the  campaign 
about  Santiago.  In  iSgg,  at  that  time  a  major  general,  he  became 
military  governor  of  Cuba,  and  remained  till  the  control  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Republic  of  Cuba  in  1902.  In  192 1  he  became  governor 
general  of  the  Philippines.  In  the  years  preceding  the  entry  of  the 
United  States  into  the  World  War  he  was  a  prominent  advocate  of 
"preparedness"  and  of  universal  military  training.  His  best-known 
book  is  "The  Military  Obligation  of  Citizenship."  The  address 
given  below  was  delivered  near  Deadwood,  South  Dakota,  on  July 
4,  1919.] 

We  are  assembled  here  today  to  dedicate  this  monument 
and  this  mountain  to  the  memory  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  the 
Great  Leader,  whom  death  has  taken  from  us.  The  sense  of 
loss  and  sorrow  which  spread  over  the  land  when  he  died  is 
still  heavy  upon  us.  The  nation  mourns  one  of  its  greatest 
sons — a  man  whose  memory  will  be  as  enduring  among  us  as 
the  mountain  itself. 

Millions  who  have  never  known  or  seen  Theodore  Roosevelt 
feel  that  they  have  lost  a  friend  ;  that  the  nation  has  lost  an 
absolutely  honest  and  courageous  leader ;  that  a  great  far- 
seeing  intelligence  has  been  taken  from  us  at  one  of  the  most 
critical  periods  in  our  national  life — taken  from  us  at  a  time 
when  we  needed  it  more  than  ever  before. 

America  loved  him  and  trusted  him  because  he  was,  above 
everything  else,  an  American.  His  broad  vision,  deep  knowl- 
edge of  the  world's  affairs,  sound  judgment,  and  courageous 
leadership  were  never  more  needed  than  in  these  days  when  it 
is  necessary  to  stand  together,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  for  the 
Constitution  and  for  the  policies  through  which  we  have  be- 
come great.  While  intensely  American,  his  sympathy  was  as 
broad  as  the  world.    It  was  limited  to  no  race  or  creed. 

^From  the  Outlook,  July  16,  1919.    Reprinted  by  permission. 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  27 

Somehow  the  world  seems  less  safe  for  the  ideals  we  are 
struggling  for.  The  cause  of  righteousness  and  fair  dealing 
between  nations,  of  open  and  honest  policies,  has  lost  its 
strongest  champion.  This  feeling  of  loss  is  confined  to  no 
class  or  section  ;  it  is  felt  by  labor  and  capital,  by  soldier  and 
sailor,  by  rabbi  and  priest,  by  the  people  as  a  whole.  They  all 
understand  that  he  stood  for  the  right,  for  the  square  deal,  for 
high  ideals,  for  clean  living,  and  that  he  had  studied  and  that 
he  understood  the  difficulties  of  the  poor  and  of  labor ;  that  he 
appreciated  the  responsibilities  and  the  problems  of  the  rich. 
They  appreciated  his  frankness,  his  absolute  honesty,  his  will- 
ingness to  admit  a  mistake  once  he  saw  it,  H'e  appealed  to  the 
conscience  of  our  country  and  impressed  upon  business  and 
industry  new  standards.  He  preached  against  the  neglect  of 
civic  obligations  by  those  of  our  citizens  who  should  take  most 
interest  in  them — the  educated  and  well-to-do.  His  name  is  a 
synonym  for  honest  courage  and  the  spirit  of  service.  He  was 
a  true  statesman,  wise  enough  to  hold  on  to  the  good  of  the 
past  and  liberal  enough  to  take  advantage  of  what  is  best  in 
the  progress  of  today. 

He  prepared  a  way  for  a  better  understanding  between  labor 
and  capital.  He  appreciated  the  fact  that  they  were  inter- 
locking forces — that  united  they  stood,  separated  they  fell.  He 
strove  to  encourage  legitimate  business  and  to  curb  and  control 
unworthy  enterprises.  He  held  that  wealth  should  be  the 
servant  of  the  people,  and  not  their  master.  He  believed  in 
neither  an  autocracy  of  wealth  nor  an  autocracy  of  labor,  but 
rather  in  a  democracy  of  both — a  democracy  characterized 
by  a  spirit  of  helpfulness  and  cooperation  and  an  understand- 
ing of  the  vital  relationship  between  them. 

As  president  he  pursued  an  unbroken  foreign  policy  of  inter- 
national understanding  and  good  will.  He  was  a  believer  in 
arbitration,  as  shown  by  the  many  arbitration  treaties  made 
during  his  administration.  He  called  to  his  assistance  the  best 
men  available,  regardless  of  party.  He  gathered  his  informa- 
tion by  full  and  free  consultation  with  the  best  men  of  all 
parties.  The  mainspring  of  his  policy  was  an  honest  desire  for 
justice  and  fair  dealing,  with  a  view  to  a  righteous  peace.   He 


2  8      \1TAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

was  conservative  and  patient  in  crises,  seeking  freely  the  advice 
of  all  those  best  able  to  give  it.  The  welfare  of  our  country 
was  ever  foremost  in  his  mind.  He  never  sought  it  through 
oppression  or  injustice  in  dealing  with  the  weak,  nor  did  he 
lose  sight  of  it  in  dealing  with  the  strong.  He  believed  in 
avoiding  entangling  alliances,  while  standing  ready  to  help 
when  our  own  conscience  dictated,  and  realized  that  America 
must  have  a  strong  national  spirit,  backed  by  the  right  kind  of  a 
national  conscience,  in  order  that  she  might  stand  ready  to  play 
her  part  when  civilization  and  the  rights  of  mankind  were  in 
danger,  acting  under  the  dictates  of  her  own  conscience  and 
not  under  the  mandate  of  other  nations. 
Among  his  last  words  were  these : 

We  must  feel  in  the  very  marrow  of  our  being  that  our  loyalty 
is  due  only  to  America,  and  that  it  is  not  diluted  by  loyalty  for  any 
other  nation  or  all  other  nations  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Only 
thus  shall  we  fit  ourselves  really  to  serve  other  nations,  to  refuse 
ourselves  to  wrong  them,  and  to  refuse  to  let  them  do  wrong  or 
suffer  wrong. 

He  hated  war,  as  all  do  who  know  it ;  but  he  dreaded,  above 
all  things,  failure  to  do  our  duty,  even  though  it  should  be 
done  through  war.  While  believing  in  arbitration,  he  had  that 
knowledge  which  comes  from  study  of  the  past,  which  led  him 
to  understand  that  arbitration  is  most  effective  when  we  have 
not  only  justice  but  strength.  He  had  sufficient  confidence  in 
America.  He  believed  she  could  be  organized  and  strong,  ready 
to  do  her  duty  as  she  saw  it,  without  becoming  an  oppressor  of 
others.  He  realized  that,  strong  as  well  as  just,  we  would  be 
a  force  for  righteousness  and  world  peace. 

He  believed  in  international  conventions  and  in  bringing 
nations  together  to  discuss  matters  which  were  of  international 
interest ;  in  other  words,  in  any  procedure  which  would  tend 
to  make  nations  discuss  questions  at  issue  before  fighting, 
provided  such  arrangements  did  not  interfere  with  our  essential 
sovereignty  or  violate  our  traditional  policy. 

We  lost  our  soundest  and  strongest  advocate  for  peace  when 
Theodore  Roosevelt  died.  Soundest  and  strongest  because  he 
understood  the  character  of  man,  the  causes  which  lead  to  war, 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  29 

and  realized  that  a  nation  must  be  not  only  right  but  of  reso- 
lute spirit  and  have  ready  that  moral  and  material  organization 
which  is  often  necessary  to  make  the  protest  of  a  justice-loving 
nation  effective.  He  saw  the  war  approaching  years  before  it 
came.  When  the  fatal  day  arrived  he  pointed  out  where  our 
duty  lay.  The  people  of  the  nation  turned  to  him  for  leader- 
ship, not  only  in  counsel  but  in  the  field.  He  planned  to  raise 
a  division.  Tens  of  thousands  stood  ready  to  respond  to  his 
call.  The  voluntary  spirit  of  the  country  was  behind  him. 
Denied  an  opportunity  to  raise  a  division,  he  threw  his  whole 
energy  and  his  whole  soul  into  a  vigorous  support  of  the  war. 
His  children  and  those  closest  to  him  v/ent  with  his  blessing. 
Everything  he  had,  everything  he  controlled^  was  devoted  to 
the  winning  of  the  war,  for  he  saw  clearly  that  it  was  as  much 
our  war  as  that  of  our  allies,  and  that  it  was  a  war  for 
civilization. 

Born  and  reared  under  the  best  surroundings,  well  educated, 
widely  read,  with  every  opportunity  to  drift  into  the  easy, 
careless  life,  his  whole  career  from  early  youth  was  marked  by 
a  desire  to  do  something  worth  while,  to  be  of  some  service  to 
the  world.  Frail  in  early  youth,  he  made  himself  robust  and 
strong.  Handicapped  by  defective  vision,  he  became  an  expert 
hunter,  fearless  explorer,  a  man  who  loved  rough  and  dangerous 
places.  He  loved  the  simple,  yet  strenuous  life.  He  worked 
hard  and  played  hard.    He  was  never  inactive. 

Married  life  was  for  him  the  ideal  life.  He  was  singularly 
devoted  to  home  and  family.  His  respect  for  women  was  pro- 
found. He  appreciated  their  position  and  influence  in  the  world 
as  few  men  do.  He  was  clean  of  speech,  and  his  life  was 
clean  and  moral.  He  abhorred^  above  all,  suggestive  speech, 
loose  living,  and  immorality. 

While  he  loved  all  our  people,  he  had  an  especial  apprecia- 
tion of  the  people  of  the  West.  It  was  the  part  of  the  country 
in  which  he  had  found  health  and  strength.  He  was  fond  of 
their  simple  life,  their  patriotism,  and  their  directness.  He 
loved  a  hard,  fast  run  in  a  rough  country,  a  bout  with  the 
broadswords,  a  hard  gallop  across  country.  He  was  an  omniv- 
orous reader.    He  was  equally  at  home  at  a  roundup,  in  the 


30  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

legislative  halls,  an  assembly  of  scientists,  or  as  a  speaker  at  a 
university  commencement. 

Travel,  reading,  study,  and  contact  with  men  had  given  him 
a  familiarity  with  men  and  affairs  which  is  seldom  found.  He 
was  a  many-sided  man ;  a  human  dynamo,  driven  by  the  forces 
of  truth,  humanity,  and  patriotism. 

Like  all  men  who  do  things,  he  made  mistakes — mistakes 
which  he  was  the  first  to  recognize  once  he  saw  them.  His 
honesty,  purpose,  and  purity  of  character  were  such  that  slander 
never  touched  him  and  his  real  enemies  were  few.  He  had  the 
old  crusading  spirit.  He  was  always  leading  onwards  and  up- 
wards, generally  well  in  the  advance.  He  feared  nothing,  unless 
it  were  duty  undone.  He  was  a  profound  student  of  history  and 
a  devout  Christian. 

He  realized  that  progress  comes  generally  through  struggle 
and  seldom  through  ease  and  idleness. 

He  realized  that  wars  have  been  man's  portion  at  times  ever 
since  he  was  created ;  that  it  is  often  necessary  for  a  nation  to 
do  its  duty  through  war.  He  believed  that  rational  preparation 
against  it,  combined  with  justice  and  fair  dealing,  are  the  most 
effective  forces  for  peace. 

He  was  a  thorough  believer  in  the  basic  principle  of  democ- 
racy, that  hand  in  hand  with  the  opportunity  and  privilege 
given  us  by  the  Republic  goes  obligation  for  national  service 
in  war  as  well  as  in  peace.  He  believed  that  unless  democracy 
accepts  and  lives  up  to  this  principle  it  cannot  endure ;  that 
shoulder  to  shoulder,  rich  and  poor,  Jew  and  Gentile,  new- 
comer and  native-born,  we  must  serve  the  Republic  in  war 
and  in  peace,  in  fair  weather  and  in  storm.  He  saw  in  this 
com-munity  of  service,  in  this  equality  of  obligation,  the  flame 
to  fuse  the  diverse  elements  in  our  population  into  one  homo- 
geneous mass  of  Americans,  the  upbuilding  of  a  spirit  of 
national  solidarity,  and  the  establishment  of  better  under- 
standing between  the  groups  and  classes  of  our  people.  He 
saw  in  it  also  something  of  the  brotherhood  of  man  which 
comes  through  community  of  effort,  surroundings,  and  purpose, 
and  that  better  appreciation  of  each  other  which  comes  from 
closer  association,  especially  when  this  association  is  for  a 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  31 

common  purpose,  and  that  purpose  a  lofty  one — the  defense  of 
our  country  and  the  right. 

In  Theodore  Roosevelt's  opinion  no  man  who  refuses  service 
to  the  limit  of  his  ability,  whether  in  war  or  peace,  is  fit  to  be 
a  citizen. 

Knowing  our  men  will  always  go  to  war  for  what  they  be- 
lieve to  be  right  and  that  when  they  refuse  we  shall  cease  to 
be  a  nation,  and  realizing  that  our  women  will  send  them  and 
despise  them  if  they  do  not  go  and  that  the  better  trained  they 
are  the  fewer  will  die,  he  advocated  universal  training  for 
national  service,  training  on  rational  lines  such  as  the  Swiss  or 
Australian.  He  realized  that  it  was  a  false  humanity — indeed, 
it  was  brutal  inhumanity — not  to  give  the  men  who  are  to 
light  our  battles  a  sporting  chance.  He  saw  the  deadly 
unpreparedness  of  this  country  as  the  war  crept  upon  us, 
and  strove  to  correct  it  by  voice  and  pen,  for  he  knew  that 
not  to  prepare  meant  thousands  of  unnecessary  dead.  Having 
been  in  war,  he  realized  how  great  the  losses  must  be  where 
the  men,  and  especially  the  officers,  are  unprepared  and  where 
there  is  any  shortage  in  the  machines  and  weapons  with  which 
man  fights  on  the  ground,  in  the  air,  on  the  sea,  or  beneath 
its  surface. 

"  Speak  softly,  but  carry  a  big  stick,"  with  him,  meant  to  be 
just  and  fair  but  ready  to  meet  the  forces  of  wrong  with  the 
disciplined  strength  of  right.  He  had  little  patience  with  those 
adroit  in  the  use  of  words  and  skilled  in  the  building  of 
phrases  but  lacking  the  concrete  courage  to  meet  issues  when 
national  honor,  the  lives  of  our  people,  and  the  best  interests 
of  humanity  and  civilization  demanded  action. 

It  was  impossible  for  him  to  be  neutral  in  the  face  of  wrong. 
He  believed  in  a  free  press,  free  speech,  and  pitiless  publicity, 
and  understood  that  a  democracy  resenting  criticism,  smother- 
ing the  press,  and  hampering  publicity  is  a  democracy  in  danger, 
if  not  a  democracy  dying. 

He  was  devoted  to  nature.  No  one  loved  forests  and  moun- 
tains more  than  he.  From  extensive  travel  and  observation, 
not  only  in  our  own  country  but  abroad,  he  saw  the  necessity  of 
establishing  a  sound  and  rational  system  of  conservation  of  cur 


32  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

national  forests,  which  were  being  ruthlessly  wasted  in  many 
places,  and  under  his  leadership  a  sound  system  of  conservation 
became  a  part  of  our  national  policy.  In  looking  forward  to 
an  equitable  distribution  of  our  national  wealth  he  urged  a 
vigorous  policy  in  reference  to  the  reservation  of  our  water- 
power  sites  and  the  reclamation  of  our  desert  areas  that  they 
may  be  ready  for  the  coming  millions.  He  established  the 
Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor ;  laid  the  foundation  for 
better  understanding  between  capital  and  labor ;  did  more 
than  any  other  president  to  make  the  world  realize  what  the 
United  States  stands  for  and  what  a  government  "of  the 
people,  for  the  people,  by  the  people  "  means. 

He  was  the  most  inspiring  and  consequently  the  most  domi- 
nant figure  in  our  national  life  since  Lincoln.  The  youth  of 
the  country  turned  to  him  ;  he  was  its  ideal. 

He  was  a  brave  and  efficient  officer,  often  reckless  of  his 
own  safety  but  always  careful  of  that  of  his  men.  He  was 
always  frank  and  straightforward,  yet  absolutely  subordinate 
and  loyaL  While  subordinate,  he  understood  the  difference 
between  subordination  and  servility.  He  gave  his  opinion 
frankly,  but  obeyed  promptly  and  faithfully  whatever  com- 
mands he  received,  whether  they  were  in  accord  with  his  own 
views  or  not. 

He  was  a  many-sided  man,  but  foursquare  to  all  the  world 
—  a  wise  statesman,  naturalist,  author,  writer  of  history, 
scholar,  soldier,  builder  of  standards,  a  man  with  a  clean  soul 
and  dauntless  spirit,  whose  watchword  was  duty  and  whose  life 
was  one  for  the  right,  for  country,  and  for  God.  Such  was 
Theodore  Roosevelt.  He  believed  in  the  Constitution,  in  a 
government  owned  and  run  by  and  for  the  people  and  not  in 
a  people  owmed  and  dominated  by  the  government.  Perhaps 
his  greatest  service  was  rendered  in  his  last  years,  when  he 
raised  his  voice  against  the  deadly  menace  of  internationalism 
and  the  heresies  of  the  day. 

He  believed  in  one  flag,  one  language,  and  one  country  ;  no 
dual  citizenship.  He  believed  in  a  sincere  welcome  and  fair 
treatment  for  the  immigrants  who  come  to  us  for  the  purpose 
of  adopting  our  standards  and  living  up  to  them,  and  had  no 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA  33 

sympathy  for  those  who  come  to  us  for  the  purpose  of  tearing 
down  those  things  which  we  have  spent  our  national  life  in 
building  up.  He  believed  that  true  liberty  is  found  within  the 
law.    His  creed  was  clearly  expressed  in  his  last  message : 

I  cannot  be  with  you,  and  so  all  I  can  do  is  to  wish  you  God- 
speed. There  must  be  no  sagging  back  in  the  fight  for  American- 
ism now  that  the  war  is  over.  .  .  .  We  should  insist  that  if  the 
immigrant  who  comes  here  does  in  good  faith  become  an  American 
and  assimilate  himself  to  us,  he  shall  be  treated  on  an  exact  equal- 
ity with  ever>-one  else.  .  .  .  There  can  be  no  divided  allegiances 
at  all.  We  have  room  but  for  one  flag,  the  American  flag,  and  this 
excludes  the  red  flag,  which  symbolizes  only  war  against  liberty 
and  civilization.  We  have  room  but  for  one  language  here,  and 
that  is  the  English  language,  for  we  intend  to  see  that  the  crucible 
turns  our  people  out  as  Americans,  and  not  as  dwellers  in  a  polyglot 
boarding  house,  and  we  have  room  for  but  one  loyalty,  and  that  is 
loyalty  to  the  American  people. 

Such  is  the  man  to  whom  we  today  dedicate  this  mountain, 
which  in  its  rugged  simplicity  and  strength  typifies  his  charac- 
ter. May  the  influence  of  his  teachings  be  as  permanent 
among  us  as  the  mountain  itself ! 

God  grant  that  his  spirit  and  ideals  may  guide  us  in  the  days 
before  us ! 


II 

NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES 

WESTERN  DEMOCRACY  AND   BIG   BUSINESS^ 
Frederick  J,  Turner 

[Frederick  J.  Turner  (1861-  )  was  educated  at  the  University 
of  Wisconsin  and  at  Johns  Hopkins,  and  from  1889  to  1910  was 
connected  with  the  former  as  instructor  and  professor  of  history. 
Since  then  he  has  been  professor  of  history  in  Harvard  University. 
He  is  best  known  for  his  studies  of  Western  history,  among  these 
being  the  present  essay  and  "The  Rise  of  the  New  West"  (1906) 
in  the  "American  Nation"  series.  Nowhere  can  a  better  presenta- 
tion of  the  characteristic  features  of  Western  democracy  and  its 
various  problems  be  found  than  in  the  essay  from  which  the  histori- 
cal review  below  has  been  taken.] 

The  last  chapter  in  the  development  of  Western  democracy 
is  the  one  that  deals  with  its  conquest  over  the  vast  spaces 
of  the  new  West.  At  each  new  stage  of  Western  development 
the  people  have  had  to  grapple  with  larger  areas,  with  vaster 
combinations.  The  little  colony  of  Massachusetts  veterans 
that  settled  at  Marietta  received  a  land  grant  as  large  as  the 
state  of  Rhode  Island.  The  band  of  Connecticut  pioneers  that 
followed  IMoses  Cleaveland  to  the  Connecticut  Reserve  occupied 
a  region  as  large  as  the  parent  state.  The  area  which  settlers 
of  New  England  stock  occupied  on  the  prairies  of  northern 
Illinois  surpassed  the  combined  area  of  Massachusetts,  Con- 
necticut, and  Rhode  Island.  Men  who  had  been  accustomed 
to  the  narrow  valleys  and  the  little  towns  of  the  East  found 
themselves  out  on  the  boundless  spaces  of  the  West  dealing 
with  units  of  such  magnitude  as  dwarfed  their  former  expe- 
rience.   The  Great  Lakes,  the  prairies,  the  Great  Plains,  the 

iFrom  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  Vol.  XCI.    Reprinted  by  permission, 

34 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  35 

Rocky  Mountains,  the  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri,  furnished 
new  standards  of  measurement  for  the  achievement  of  this  in- 
dustrial democracy.  IndividuaHsm  began  to  give  way  to  coop- 
eration and  to  governmental  activity.  Even  in  the  earlier  days 
of  the  democratic  conquest  of  the  wilderness,  demands  had  been 
made  upon  the  government  for  support  in  internal  improve- 
ments, but  this  new  West  showed  a  growing  tendency  to  call  to 
its  assistance  the  powerful  arm  of  national  authority.  In  the 
period  since  the  Civil  War  the  vast  public  domain  has  been 
donated  to  the  individual  farmer,  to  states  for  education, 
to  railroads  for  the  construction  of  transportation  lines.  More- 
over, with  the  advent  of  democracy  in  the  last  fifteen  years 
upon  the  Great  Plains,  new  physical  conditions  have  presented 
themselves  which  have  accelerated  the  social  tendency  of 
Western  democracy.  The  pioneer  farmer  of  the  days  of  Lin- 
coln could  place  his  family  on  the  fiatboat,  strike  into  the 
wilderness,  cut  out  his  clearing,  and  with  little  or  no  capital  go 
on  to  the  achievement  of  industrial  independence.  Even  the 
homesteader  on  the  Western  prairies  found  it  possible  to  work 
out  a  similar  independent  destiny,  although  the  factor  of  trans- 
portation made  a  serious  and  increasing  impediment  to  the 
free  working  out  of  his  individual  career.  But  when  the  arid 
lands  and  the  mineral  resources  of  the  Far  West  were  reached, 
no  conquest  was  possible  by  the  old,  individual,  pioneer 
methods.  Here  expensive  irrigation  works  must  be  constructed, 
cooperative  activity  was  demanded  in  utilization  of  the  water 
supply,  capital  beyond  the  reach  of  the  small  farmer  was  re- 
quired. In  a  word,  the  physiographic  province  itself  decreed 
that  the  destiny  of  this  new  frontier  should  be  social  rather 
than  individual. 

Magnitude  of  social  achievement  is  the  watchword  of  the 
democracy  since  the  Civil  War.  From  petty  towns  built  in 
the  marshes,  cities  arose  whose  greatness  and  industrial  power 
are  the  wonder  of  our  time.  The  conditions  were  ideal  for  the 
production  of  captains  of  industry.  The  old  democratic  ad- 
miration for  the  self-made  man,  its  old  deference  to  the 
rights  of  competitive  individual  development,  together  with 
the  stupendous  natural  resources  that  opened  to  the  conquest 


36  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

of  the  keenest  and  the  strongest,  gave  such  conditions  of  mobil- 
ity as  enabled  the  development  of  the  vast  industries  which  in 
our  own  decade  have  marked  the  West. 

Thus,  in  brief,  have  been  outlined  the  larger  phases  of  the 
development  of  Western  democracy  in  the  different  areas  which 
it  has  conquered.  There  has  been  a  steady  development  of 
the  industrial  ideal  and  a  steady  increase  of  the  social  tend- 
ency in  this  later  movement  of  Western  democracy.  While 
the  individualism  of  the  frontier,  so  prominent  in  the  earliest 
days  of  Western  advance,  has  been  preserved  as  an  ideal,  more 
and  more  these  individuals  struggling  each  with  the  other, 
dealing  with  vaster  and  vaster  areas,  with  larger  and  larger 
problems,  have  found  it  necessary  to  combine  under  the 
leadership  of  the  strongest.  This  is  the  explanation  of  the 
rise  of  those  preeminent  captains  of  industry  whose  genius  has 
concentrated  capital  to  control  the  fundamental  resources 
of  the  nation.  If  now,  in  the  way  of  recapitulation,  we  try 
to  pick  out  from  the  influences  that  have  gone  to  the  making 
of  Western  democracy  the  factors  which  constitute  the  net 
result  of  this  movement,  we  shall  have  to  mention  at  least 
the  following : 

Most  important  of  all  has  been  the  fact  that  an  area  of  free 
land  has  continually  lain  on  the  western  border  of  the  settled 
area  of  the  United  States.  Whenever  social  conditions  tended 
to  crystallize  in  the  East,  whenever  capital  tended  to  press 
upon  labor  or  political  restraints  to  impede  the  freedom  of  the 
mass,  there  was  this  gate  of  escape  to  the  free  conditions  of 
the  frontier.  These  free  lands  promoted  individualism,  economic 
equality,  freedom  to  rise,  democracy.  Men  would  not  accept 
inferior  wages  and  a  permanent  position  of  social  subordination 
when  this  promised  land  of  freedom  and  equality  was  theirs  for 
the  taking.  Who  would  rest  content  under  oppressive  legisla- 
tive conditions  when  with  a  slight  effort  he  might  reach  a  land 
wherein  to  become  a  co-worker  in  the  building  of  free  cities  and 
free  states  on  the  lines  of  his  own  ideal  ?  In  a  word,  then, 
free  lands  meant  free  opportunities.  Their  existence  has 
differentiated  the  American  democracy  from  the  democracies 
which  have  preceded  it,  because  ever  as  democracy  in  the  East 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  37 

took  the  form  of  a  highly  specialized  and  complicated  indus- 
trial societ}^,  in  the  West  it  kept  in  touch  with  primitive  condi- 
tions, and  by  action  and  reaction  these  two  forces  have  shaped 
our  history. 

In  the  next  place,  these  free  lands  and  this  treasury  of  indus- 
trial resources  have  existed  over  such  vast  spaces  that  they 
have  demanded  of  democracy  increasing  spaciousness  of  de- 
sign and  power  of  execution.  Western  democracy  is  contrasted 
with  the  democracy  of  all  other  times  in  the  largeness  of  the 
tasks  to  which  it  has  set  its  hand  and  in  the  vast  achievements 
which  it  has  wrought  out  in  the  control  of  nature  and  of  politics. 
Upon  the  region  of  the  Middle  West  alone  could  be  set  down 
all  of  the  great  countries  of  Central  Europe, —  France,  Ger- 
many, Italy,  and  Austria-Hungary, — and  there  would  still  be 
a  liberal  margin.  It  would  be  difficult  to  overemphasize  the 
importance  of  this  training  upon  democracy.  Never  before  in 
the  history  of  the  world  has  a  democracy  existed  on  so  vast  an 
area  and  handled  things  in  the  gross  with  such  success,  with 
such  largeness  of  design,  and  such  grasp  upon  the  means  of 
execution.  In  short,  democracy  has  learned  in  the  West  of  the 
United  States  how  to  deal  with  the  problem  of  magnitude.  The 
old  historic  democracies  were  but  little  states  with  primitive 
economic  conditions. 

But  the  very  task  of  dealing  with  vast  resources,  over  vast 
areas,  under  the  conditions  of  free  competition  furnished  by 
the  West,  has  produced  the  rise  of  those  captains  of  industry 
whose  success  in  consolidating  economic  power  now  raises  the 
question  as  to  whether  democracy  under  such  conditions  can 
survive.  For  the  old  military  type  of  Western  leaders  like 
George  Rogers  Clark,  Andrew  Jackson,  and  William  Henry 
Harrison  have  been  substituted  such  industrial  leaders  as 
James  Hill,  John  D.  Rockefeller,  and  Andrew  Carnegie. 

The  question  is  imperative,  then :  What  ideals  persist  from 
this  democratic  experience  of  the  West,  and  have  they  acquired 
sufficient  momentum  to  sustain  themselves  under  conditions 
so  radically  unlike  those  in  the  days  of  their  origin  ?  In  other 
words,  the  question  put  at  the  beginning  of  this  discussion  be- 
comes pertinent.    Under  the  forms  of  the  American  democracy 


38      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

is  there  in  reality  evolving  such  a  concentration  of  economic 
and  social  power  in  the  hands  of  a  comparatively  few  men  as 
may  make  political  democracy  an  appearance  rather  than  a 
reality  ?  The  free  lands  are  gone.  The  material  forces  that 
gave  vitality  to  Western  democracy  are  passing  away.  It  is 
to  the  realm  of  the  spirit,  to  the  domain  of  ideals  and  legisla- 
tion, that  we  must  look  for  Western  influence  upon  democracy 
in  our  own  days. 

Western  democracy  has  been  from  the  time  of  its  birth 
idealistic.  The  very  fact  of  the  wilderness  appealed  to  men 
as  a  fair,  blank  page  on  which  to  write  a  new  chapter  in  the 
story  of  man's  struggle  for  a  higher  type  of  society.  The 
Western  wilds,  from  the  Alleghenies  to  the  Pacific,  constituted 
the  richest  free  gift  that  was  ever  spread  out  before  civilized 
man.  To  the  peasant  and  artisan  of  the  Old  World,  bound 
by  the  chains  of  social  class,  as  old  as  custom  and  as  inevitable 
as  fate,  the  West  offered  an  exit  into  a  free  life  and  greater 
well-being  among  the  bounties  of  nature,  into  the  midst  of 
resources  that  demanded  manly  exertion,  and  that  gave  in 
return  the  chance  for  indefinite  ascent  in  the  scale  of  social 
advance.  "To  each  she  offered  gifts  after  his  will."  Never 
again  can  such  an  opportunity  come  to  the  sons  of  men.  It 
was  unique,  and  the  thing  is  so  near  us,  so  much  a  part  of  our 
lives,  that  we  do  not  even  yet  comprehend  its  vast  significance. 
The  existence  of  this  land  of  opportunity  has  made  America 
the  goal  of  idealists  from  the  days  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 
With  all  the  materialism  of  the  pioneer  movements,  this 
idealistic  conception  of  the  vacant  lands  as  an  opportunity 
for  a  new  order  of  things  is  unmistakably  present.  Kipling's 
''Song  of  the  English"  has  given  it  expression: 

We  were  dreamers,  dreaming  greatly,  in  the  man-stifled  town ; 
We  yearned  beyond  the  sky-line  where  the  strange  roads  go  down. 
Came  the  Whisper,  came  the  Vision,  came  the  Power  with  the  Need, 
Till  the  Soul  that  is  not  man's  soul  was  lent  us  to  lead. 

As  the  deer  breaks — as  the  steer  breaks  —  from  the  herd  where 

they  graze. 
In  the  faith  of  Httle  children  we  went  on  our  ways. 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  39 

Then  the  wood  failed — then  the  food  failed — then  the  last  water 

dried  — 
In  the  faith  of  little  children  we  lay  down  and  died. 

On  the  sand-drift — on  the  veldt-side — in  the  fern-scrub  we  lay, 
That  our  sons  might  follow  after  by  the  bones  on  the  way. 
Follow  after — follow  after  !    We  have  watered  the  root, 
And  the  bud  has  come  to  blossom  that  ripens  for  fruit ! 
Follow  after — we  are  waiting  by  the  trails  that  we  lost 
For  the  sound  of  many  footsteps,  for  the  tread  of  a  host. 

Follow  after — follow  after — for  the  harvest  is   sown: 
By  the  bones  about  the  wayside  ye  shall  come  to  your  own  1 

This  was  the  vision  that  called  to  Roger  Williams, — that 
''prophetic  soul  ravished  of  truth  disembodied,"  "unable  to 
enter  into  treaty  with  its  environment,"  and  forced  to  seek  the 
wilderness.  "Oh,  how  sweet,"  wrote  William  Penn,  from  his 
forest  refuge,  "is  the  quiet  of  these  parts,  freed  from  the 
troubles  and  perplexities  of  woeful  Europe."  And  here  he  pro- 
jected what  he  called  his  "  Holy  Experiment  in  Government." 

If  the  later  West  offers  few  such  striking  illustrations  of  the 
relation  of  the  wilderness  to  idealistic  schemes,  and  if  some  of 
the  designs  were  fantastic  and  abortive,  none  the  less  the  influ- 
ence is  a  fact.  Hardly  a  Western  state  but  has  been  the  Mecca 
of  some  sect  or  band  of  social  reformers,  anxious  to  put  into 
practice  their  ideals  in  vacant  land  far  removed  from  the  checks 
of  a  settled  form  of  social  organization.  Consider  the  Dun- 
kards,  the  Icarians,  the  Fourierists,  the  Mormons,  and  similar 
idealists  who  sought  our  Western  wilds.  But  the  idealistic 
influence  is  not  limited  to  the  dreamers'  conception  of  a  new 
state.  It  gave  to  the  pioneer  farmer  and  city  builder  a  restless 
energy,  a  quick  capacity  for  judgment  and  action,  a  belief  in 
liberty,  freedom  of  opportunity,  and  a  resistance  to  the  domi- 
nation of  class  which  infused  a  vitality  and  power  into  the  in- 
dividual atoms  of  this  democratic  mass.  Even  as  he  dwelt 
among  the  stumps  of  his  newly  cut  clearing,  the  pioneer  had 
the  creative  vision  of  a  new  order  of  society.  In  imagination 
he  pushed  back  the  forest  boundary  to  the  confines  of  a  mighty 
commonwealth  ;  he  willed  that  log  cabins  should  become  the 


40      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

loft>-  buildings  of  great  cities.  He  decreed  that  his  children 
should  enter  into  a  heritage  of  education,  comfort,  and  social 
welfare,  and  for  this  ideal  he  bore  the  scars  of  the  wilderness. 
Possessed  with  this  idea  he  ennobled  his  task  and  laid  deep 
foundations  for  a  democratic  state.  Nor  was  this  idealism  by 
any  means  limited  to  the  American  pioneer. 

To  the  old  native  democratic  stock  has  been  added  a  vast 
army  of  recruits  from  the  Old  World.  There  are  in  the  INIiddle 
West  alone  four  million  persons  of  German  parentage  out  of  a 
total  of  seven  millions  in  the  country.  Over  a  million  persons 
of  Scandinavian  parentage  live  in  the  same  region.  This  im- 
migration culminated  in  the  early  eighties,  and  although  there 
have  been  fluctuations  since,  it  long  continued  a  most  extraor- 
dinary phenomenon.  The  democracy  of  the  newer  West  is 
deeply  affected  by  the  ideals  brought  by  these  immigrants  from 
the  Old  World.  To  them  America  was  not  simply  a  new  home ; 
it  was  a  land  of  opportunity,  of  freedom,  of  democracy.  It 
meant  to  them,  as  to  the  American  pioneer  that  preceded  them, 
the  opportunity  to  destroy  the  bonds  of  social  caste  that  bound 
them  in  their  older  home,  to  hew  out  for  themselves  in  a  new 
country  a  destiny  proportioned  to  the  powers  that  God  had 
given  them,  a  chance  to  place  their  families  under  better  condi- 
tions and  to  win  a  larger  life  than  the  life  that  they  had  left 
behind.  He  who  believes  that  even  the  hordes  of  recent  immi- 
grants from  southern  Italy  are  drawn  to  these  shores  by  nothing 
more  than  a  dull  and  blind  materialism  has  not  penetrated  into 
the  heart  of  the  problem.  The  idealism  and  expectation  of 
these  children  of  the  Old  World^  the  hopes  which  they  have 
formed  for  a  newer  and  a  freer  life  across  the  seas,  are  almost 
pathetic  when  one  considers  how  far  they  are  from  the  possi- 
bility of  fruition.  He  who  would  take  stock  of  American  de- 
mocracy must  not  forget  the  accumulation  of  human  purposes 
and  ideals  which  immigration  has  added  to  the  American 
populace. 

In  this  connection  it  must  also  be  remembered  that  these 
democratic  ideals  have  existed  at  each  stage  of  the  advance 
of  the  frontier,  and  have  left  behind  them  deep  and  enduring 
effects  on  the  thinking  of  the  whole  country.    Long  after  the 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  4 1 

frontier  period  of  a  particular  region  of  the  United  States  has 
passed  away,  the  conception  of  society,  the  ideals  and  aspira- 
tions which  it  produced,  persists  in  the  minds  of  the  people. 
So  recent  has  been  the  transition  of  the  greater  portion  of  the 
United  States  from  frontier  conditions  to  conditions  of  settled 
life,  that  we  are,  over  the  larger  portion  of  the  United  States, 
hardly  a  generation  removed  from  the  primitive  conditions  of 
the  West.  If,  indeed,  we  ourselves  were  not  pioneers,  our 
fathers  were,  and  the  inherited  ways  of  looking  at  things,  the 
fundamental  assumptions  of  the  American  people,  have  all 
been  shaped  by  this  experience  of  democracy  on  its  westward 
march.  This  experience  has  been  wrought  into  the  very  warp 
and  woof  of  American  thought.  Even  those  masters  of  indus- 
try and  capital  who  have  risen  to  power  by  the  conquest  of 
Western  resources  came  from  the  midst  of  this  society  and 
still  profess  its  principles.  John  D.  Rockefeller  was  born  on  a 
New  York  farm  and  began  his  career  as  a  young  business  man 
in  St.  Louis.  INIarcus  Hanna  was  a  Cleveland  grocer's  clerk 
at  the  age  of  twenty.  Glaus  Spreckels,  the  sugar  king,  came 
from  Germany  as  a  steerage  passenger  to  the  United  States  in 
1848.  INIarshall  Field  was  a  farmer  boy  in  Gonway,  Massachu- 
setts, until  he  left  to  grow  up  with  the  young  Chicago.  Andrew 
Carnegie  came  as  a  ten-year-old  boy  from  Scotland  to  Pitts- 
burgh, then  a  distinctively  Western  town.  He  built  up  his 
fortunes  through  successive  grades  until  he  became  the  domi- 
nating factor  in  the  great  iron  industries  and  paved  the  way 
for  that  colossal  achievement,  the  steel  trust.  Whatever  may  be 
the  tendencies  of  this  corporation,  there  can  be  little  doubt  of 
the  democratic  ideals  of  Mr.  Carnegie  himself.  With  lavish 
hand  he  has  strewn  millions  through  the  United  States  for  the 
promotion  of  libraries.  The  effect  of  this  library  movement 
in  perpetuating  the  democracy  that  comes  from  an  intelligent 
and  self-respecting  people  can  hardly  be  measured.  In  his 
"Triumphant  Democracy,"  published  in  1886,  Mr.  Carnegie, 
the  ironmaster,  said,  in  reference  to  the  mineral  wealth  of  the 
United  States  :  "Thank  God,  these  treasures  are  in  the  hands 
of  an  intelligent  people,  the  Democracy,  to  be  used  for  the  gen- 
eral good  of  the  masses,  and  not  made  the  spoils  of  monarchs, 


42      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

courts,  and  aristocracy,  to  be  turned  to  the  base  and  selfish 
ends  of  a  privileged  hereditary  class."  It  would  be  hard  to 
find  a  more  rigorous  assertion  of  democratic  doctrine  than 
the  celebrated  utterance  attributed  to  the  same  man,  that  he 
should  feel  it  a  disgrace  to  die  rich. 

In  enumerating  the  services  of  American  democracy  Presi- 
dent Eliot  includes  the  corporation  as  one  of  its  achievements, 
declaring  that  ''freedom  of  incorporation,  though  no  longer 
exclusively  a  democratic  agency,  has  given  a  strong  support 
to  democratic  institutions."  In  one  sense  this  is  doubtless 
true,  since  the  corporation  has  been  one  of  the  means  by 
which  small  properties  can  be  aggregated  into  an  effective 
working  body.  Socialistic  writers  have  long  been  fond  of  point- 
ing out  also  that  these  various  concentrations  pave  the  way 
for  and  make  possible  social  control.  From  this  point  of  view 
it  is  possible  that  the  masters  of  industry  may  prove  to  be  not 
so  much  an  incipient  aristocracy  as  the  pathfinders  for  democ- 
racy in  reducing  the  industrial  world  to  systematic  consoli- 
dation suited  to  democratic  control.  The  great  geniuses  that 
have  built  up  the  modern  industrial  concentration  were  trained 
in  the  midst  of  democratic  society.  They  were  the  product  of 
these  democratic  conditions.  Freedom  to  rise  was  the  very 
condition  of  their  existence.  Whether  they  will  be  followed  by 
successors  who  will  adopt  the  policy  of  exploitation  of  the 
masses,  and  who  will  be  capable  of  retaining  under  efficient 
control  these  vast  resources,  is  one  of  the  questions  which  we 
shall  have  to  face. 

This,  at  least,  is  clear:  American  democracy  is  funda- 
mentally the  outcome  of  the  experiences  of  the  American 
people  in  dealing  with  the  West.  Western  democracy  through 
the  whole  of  its  earlier  period  tended  to  the  production  of  a 
society  of  which  the  most  distinctive  fact  was  the  freedom 
of  the  individual  to  rise  under  conditions  of  social  mobility, 
and  whose  ambition  was  the  liberty  and  well-being  of  the 
masses.  This  conception  has  vitalized  all  American  democ- 
racy and  has  brought  it  into  sharp  contrast  with  the  democ- 
racies of  history  and  with  those  modern  efforts  of  Europe 
to  create  an  artificial  democratic  order  by  legislation.    The 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  43 

problem  of  the  United  States  is  not  to  create  democracy  but  to 
conserve  democratic  institutions  and  ideals.  In  the  later  period 
of  its  development  Western  democracy  has  been  gaining  ex- 
perience in  the  problem  of  social  control.  It  has  steadily 
enlarged  the  sphere  of  its  action  and  the  instruments  for  its 
perpetuation.  By  its  system  of  public  schools  —  from  the 
grades  to  the  graduate  work  of  the  great  universities — the 
West  has  created  a  larger  single  body  of  intelligent  plain  people 
than  can  be  found  elsewhere  in  the  world.  Its  educational 
forces  are  more  democratic  than  those  of  the  East,  and  count- 
ing the  common  schools  and  colleges  together,  the  ]\Iiddle  West 
alone  has  twice  as  many  students  as  New  England  and  the 
Middle  States  combined.  Its  political  tendencies,  whether  we 
consider  democracy,  populism,  or  republicanism,  are  distinctly 
in  the  direction  of  greater  social  control  and  the  conservation 
of  the  old  democratic  ideals.  To  these  ideals  the  West  as  a 
whole  adheres  with  even  a  passionate  determination.  If,  in 
working  out  its  mastery  of  the  resources  of  the  interior,  it  has 
produced  a  type  of  industrial  leader  so  powerful  as  to  be  the 
wonder  of  the  world,  nevertheless  it  is  still  to  be  determined 
whether  these  men  constitute  a  menace  to  democratic  insti- 
tutions, or  the  most  efficient  factor  for  adjusting  democratic 
control  to  the  new  conditions. 

Whatever  shall  be  the  outcome  of  the  rush  of  this  huge 
industrial  modern  United  States  to  its  place  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  the  formation  of  its  Western  democracy  will 
always  remain  one  of  the  wonderful  chapters  in  the  history  of 
the  human  race.  Into  this  vast  shaggy  continent  of  ours 
poured  the  first  feeble  tide  of  European  settlement.  European 
men,  institutions,  and  ideas  were  lodged  in  the  American 
wilderness,  and  this  great  American  West  took  them  to  her 
bosom,  taught  them  a  new  way  of  looking  upon  the  destiny 
of  the  common  man,  trained  them  in  adaptation  to  the  condi- 
tions of  the  New  World,  to  the  creation  of  new  institutions  to 
meet  new  needs  ;  and  ever  as  society  on  her  eastern  border  grew 
to  resemble  the  Old  World  in  its  social  forms  and  its  industry, 
ever  as  it  began  to  lose  its  faith  in  the  ideals  of  democracy, 
she  opened  new  provinces  and  dowered  new  democracies  in 


44      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

her  most  distant  domains  with  her  material  treasures  and  with 
the  ennobling  intluence  that  the  fierce  love  of  freedom,  the 
strength  that  came  from  hewing  out  a  home,  making  a  school 
and  a  church,  and  creating  a  higher  future  for  his  family, 
furnished  to  the  pioneer.  She  gave  to  the  world  such  types  as 
the  farmer  Thomas  Jefferson,  with  his  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, his  statute  for  religious  toleration,  and  his  purchase 
of  Louisiana.  She  gave  us  Andrew  Jackson,  that  fierce  Ten- 
nessee spirit  who  broke  down  the  traditions  of  conservative 
rule,  swept  away  the  privacies  and  privileges  of  officialdom, 
and,  like  a  Gothic  leader,  opened  the  temple  of  the  nation  to 
the  populace.  She  gave  us  Abraham  Lincoln,  whose  gaunt 
frontier  form  and  gnarled,  massive  hand  told  of  the  conflict 
with  the  forest,  whose  grasp  on  the  ax  handle  of  the  pioneer 
was  no  finner  than  his  grasp  of  the  helm  of  the  ship  of  state 
as  it  breasted  the  seas  of  civil  war.  She  gave  us  the  tragedy 
of  the  pioneer  farmer  as  he  marched  daringly  on  to  the  conquest 
of  the  arid  lands  and  met  his  first  defeat  by  forces  too  strong  to 
be  dealt  with  under  the  old  conditions.  She  has  furnished  to 
this  new  democracy  her  stores  of  mineral  wealth  that  dwarf 
those  of  the  Old  World,  and  her  provinces  that  in  themselves 
are  vaster  and  more  productive  than  most  of  the  nations  of 
Europe.  Out  of  her  bounty  has  come  a  nation  whose  industrial 
competition  alarms  the  Old  World,  and  the  masters  of  whose 
resources  wield  wealth  and  power  vaster  than  the  wealth  and 
power  of  kings.  Best  of  all,  the  West  gave,  not  only  to  the 
American  but  to  the  unhappy  and  oppressed  of  all  lands,  a 
vision  of  hope,  an  assurance  that  the  world  held  a  place  where 
were  to  be  found  high  faith  in  man  and  the  will  and  power  to 
furnish  him  the  opportunity  to  grow  to  the  full  measure  of  his 
own  capacity.  Great  and  powerful  as  are  the  new  sons  of  her 
loins,  the  Republic  is  greater  than  they.  The  paths  of  the 
pioneer  have  widened  into  broad  highways.  The  forest  clear- 
ing has  expanded  into  affluent  commonwealths.  Let  us  see  to 
it  that  the  ideals  of  the  pioneer  in  his  log  cabin  shall  enlarge 
into  the  spiritual  life  of  a  democracy  where  civic  power  shall 
dominate  and  utilize  individual  achievement  for  the  common 
good. 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  45 

THE  CHALLENGE  OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST  ^ 

JOSIAH    ROYCE 

[Josiah  Royce  (1855-1916),  one  of  the  greatest  American  phi- 
losophers, was  born  in  California  and  educated  at  the  University 
of  California  and  at  Johns  Hopkins.  From  1882  to  his  death  he 
taught  philosophy  at  Harvard.  He  wrote,  besides  a  large  number 
of  other  works,  a  history  of  California,  "The  Philosophy  of  Loy- 
alty" (1908),  and  "William  James  and  Other  Essays  on  the 
Philosophy  of  Life"  (191 1).  His  brilliant  defense  of  idealism  en- 
titled "Loyalty  and  Insight,"  in  the  last-mentioned  volume,  is 
perhaps  the  best  popular  e.xample  of  his  philosophical  teaching.  The 
analysis  below  is  part  of  an  address  entitled  "  The  Pacific  Coast  : 
A  Psychological  Study  of  the  Relations  of  Climate  and  Civilization," 
prepared  for  a  meeting  of  the  National  Geographic  Society  in  189S 
and  first  printed  in  the  International  Monthly  for  November,  1900. 
Its  luminous  discussion  of  the  distinctive  temperament  of  the 
inhabitant  of  the  Pacific  coast  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  any 
survey  of  American  character.] 

The  free  life  and  interchange  of  hospitality,  so  often  de- 
scribed in  the  accounts  of  early  California,  has  left  its  traces  in 
the  country  life  of  California  at  the  present  day.  Very  readily, 
if  you  have  moderate  means,  you  can  create  your  ovm  quiet 
estate  at  a  convenient  distance  from  the  nearest  town.  You 
may  cover  your  house  with  a  bower  of  roses,  surround  yourself 
with  an  orchard,  quickly  grow  eucalyptus  as  a  shade  tree,  and 
with  nearly  equal  facility  multiply  other  shade  trees.  You 
become,  on  easy  terms,  a  proprietor,  with  estate  and  home  of 
your  own.  Now  all  this  holds,  in  a  sense,  of  any  mild  climate. 
But  in  California  the  more  regular  routine  of  wet  and  dry 
seasons  modifies  and  renders  more  stable  the  general  psycho- 
logical consequences.  All  this  is  encouraging  to  a  kind  of 
harmonious  individuality  that  already  tends  in  the  best  in- 
stances toward  a  somewhat  Hellenic  type. 

A  colleague  of  my  own,  a  New  Englander  of  the  strictest 
persuasion,  who  visited  California  for  a  short  time  when  he 

iFrom  "Race  Questions,  Provincialism,  and  Other  American  Prob- 
lems." Copyright,  1908,  by  The  Macmiilan  Company.  Reprinted  by 
permission. 


46  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

was  himself  past  middle  life,  returned  enthusiastic  with  the 
report  that  the  California  countrymen  seemed  to  him  to  re- 
semble the  ancient,  yes,  even  the  Homeric,  Greeks  of  the 
Odyssey.  The  Californians  had  their  independence  of  judg- 
ment ;  their  carelessness  of  what  a  barbarian  might  think,  so 
long  as  he  came  from  beyond  the  border ;  their  apparent  free- 
dom in  choosing  what  manner  of  men  they  should  be ;  their 
ready  and  confident  speech.  All  these  things  my  friend  at  once 
noticed  as  characteristic.  Thus  different  in  type  are  these 
country  proprietors  from  the  equally  individual,  the  secretively 
independent,  the  silently  conscientious  New  England  villagers. 
They  are  also  quite  different  from  the  typical  Southern  proprie- 
tors. From  the  latter  they  differ  in  having  less  tendency  to 
respect  traditions  and  in  laying  much  less  stress  upon  formal 
courtesies.  The  Californian,  like  the  Westerner  in  general,  is 
likely  to  be  somewhat  abrupt  in  speech,  and  his  recent  coming 
to  the  land  has  made  him,  on  the  whole,  quite  indifferent  to 
family  tradition,  I  myself,  for  instance,  reached  twenty  years 
of  age  without  ever  becoming  clearly  conscious  of  what  was 
meant  by  judging  a  man  by  his  antecedents,  a  judgment  that 
in  an  older  and  less  isolated  community  is  natural  and  inevi- 
table and  that,  I  think,  in  most  of  our  Western  communities, 
grows  up  more  rapidly  than  it  has  grown  up  in  California, 
where  the  geographical  isolation  is  added  to  the  absence  of 
tradition.  To  my  own  mind,  in  childhood,  every  human  being 
was,  with  a  few  exceptions,  whatever  he  happened  to  be. 
Hereditary  distinctions  I  appreciated  only  in  case  of  four 
types  of  humanity.  There  were  the  Chinamen,  there  were  the 
Irishmen,  there  were  the  Mexicans,  and  there  were  the  rest  of 
us.  Within  each  of  these  types  every  man,  to  my  youthful 
mind,  was  precisely  what  God  and  himself  had  made  him,  and 
it  was  distinctly  a  new  point  of  view  to  attach  a  man  to  the 
antecedents  that  either  his  family  or  his  other  social  relation- 
ships had  determined  for  him.  Now,  I  say,  this  type  of 
individuality,  known  more  or  less  in  our  Western  communities 
but  developed  in  peculiarly  high  degree  in  California,  seems 
to  me  due  not  merely  to  the  newness  of  the  community,  and 
not  merely  to  that  other  factor  of  geographical  isolation  that  I 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  47 

just  mentioned,  but  to  the  relation  with  nature  of  which  we  have 
already  spoken.  It  is  a  free  and  on  the  whole  an  emotionally 
exciting,  and  also,  as  we  have  said,  an  engrossing  and  intimate 
relation. 

In  New  England,  if  you  are  moody,  you  may  wish  to  take  a 
long  walk  out  of  doors,  but  that  is  not  possible  at  all  or  even 
at  most  seasons.  Nature  may  not  be  permitted  to  comfort 
you.  In  California,  unless  you  are  afraid  of  the  rain,  nature 
welcomes  you  at  almost  any  time.  The  union  of  the  man  and 
the  visible  universe  is  free,  is  entirely  unchecked  by  any  hos- 
tility on  the  part  of  nature,  and  is  such  as  easily  fills  one's 
mind  with  wealth  of  warm  experience.  A  poet  often  quoted 
has  laid  stress  upon  the  directly  or  symbolically  painful  aspects 
of  the  scene.  But  these  are  sorrows  of  a  sort  that  mean  pre- 
cisely that  relation  with  nature  which  I  am  trying  to  character- 
ize, not  the  relation  of  hostility  but  of  closeness.  And  this  is 
the  sort  of  closeness  determined  not  merely  by  mild  weather 
but  by  long  drought  and  by  the  relative  steadiness  of  all  the 
climatic  conditions. 

Now,  I  must  feel  that  such  tendencies  are  of  vast  impor- 
tance, not  merely  today  but  for  all  time.  They  are  tendencies 
whose  moral  significance  in  the  life  of  California  is  of  course 
both  good  and  evil,  since  man's  relations  with  nature  are,  in 
general,  a  neutral  material  upon  which  ethical  relations  may 
be  based.  If  you  are  industrious  this  intimacy  with  nature 
means  constant  cooperation,  a  cooperation  never  interrupted  by 
frozen  ground  and  deep  snow.  If  you  tend  to  idleness  nature's 
kindliness  may  make  you  all  the  more  indolent,  and  indolence 
is  a  possible  enough  vice  with  the  dwellers  in  all  mild  climates. 
If  you  are  morally  careless  nature  encourages  your  freedom  and 
tends  in  so  far  to  develop  a  kind  of  morale  frequently  character- 
istic of  the  dwellers  in  gentle  climates.  Yet  the  nature  of  Cali- 
fornia is  not  enervating.  The  nights  are  cool,  even  in  hot 
weather ;  owing  to  the  drought  the  mildness  of  the  air  is  not 
necessarily  harmful.  Moreover,  the  nature  that  is  so  uniform 
also  suggests  in  a  very  dignified  way  a  regularity  of  existence,  a 
definite  reward  for  a  definitely  planned  deed.  Climate  and 
weather  are  at  their  best  always  capricious,  and,  as  we  have 


48      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

seen,  the  variations  of  the  California  seasons  have  involved  the 
farniers  in  much  anxiety  and  in  many  cases  have  given  the  farm- 
ing business,  as  carried  on  in  certain  California  communities,  the 
same  sort  of  gambling  tendency  that  originally  vitiated  the 
social  value  of  the  mining  industry.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
as  the  conditions  grew  more  stable,  as  agriculture  developed, 
vast  irrigation  enterprises  introduced  once  more  a  conservative 
tendency.  Here  again  for  the  definite  deed  nature  secures  a 
definite  return.  In  regions  subject  to  irrigation  man  controls 
the  weather  as  he  cannot  elsewhere.  He  is  independent  of  the 
current  season.  And  this  tendency  to  organization — a  tend- 
ency similar  to  the  one  that  was  obviously  so  potent  in  the 
vast  ancient  civilization  of  Egypt — is  present  under  Cali- 
fornian  conditions  and  will  make  itself  felt. 


AMERICAN    RESOURCES    AND    INVENTIONS^ 

Franklin  K.  Lane 

[Franklin  K.  Lane  (1864-1921),  though  born  in  Canada,  early 
moved  to  California  and  was  educated  at  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia. He  was  a  newspaper  man  and  lawyer,  and  after  1902  was 
prominent  in  political  life.  In  1905  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission ;  in  1913  he  was  appointed  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior  by  President  Wilson,  and  in  the  latter  office 
emphasized  especially  the  questions  of  conservation  and  land  settle- 
ments for  ex-soldiers.  After  resigning  in  1920  he  wrote  frequently 
on  these  questions.] 

In  the  development  of  this  continent,  the  discovery  of  its 
resources  and  their  highest  utilization,  there  is  a  fascination 
to  the  American  which  is  superlative.  It  is,  indeed,  our  life, 
and  has  called  out  the  most  sterling  qualities  in  our  character. 
Those  foreigners  who  write  of  our  country  often  engage  in 
facetious  if  not  scornful  comment  upon  our  bombastic  manner 
of  telling  the  story  of  our  growth  and  of  the  things  achieved  or 
possessed.  They  fail,  unfortunately,  to  see  far  enough  into  the 
secret  of  our  pride. 

^This  article  is  an  abstract  from  one  of  the  reports  which  Mr.  Lane, 
as  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  made  to  the  President  of  the  United  States. 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  49 

To  have  taken  the  prize  for  the  largest  pumpkin  at  the 
county  fair,  or  to  have  milled  more  ore  in  a  day  than  any  other 
mine,  or  to  have  built  the  highest  dam  in  the  world  —  such 
things  are  to  us  adventures  which  make  the  game  of  opening  a 
new  country  worth  while. 

No  one  would  smile  when  told  that  a  foreign  army  had  made 
an  unprecedented  number  of  miles  in  a  day's  march,  or  had 
brought  into  action  a  gun  wf  unrivaled  caliber  or  built  a  ship 
of  unequaled  displacement  or  power.  These  are  the  very  things 
on  which  nations  pride  themselves  as  revealing  their  capacity, 
ingenuity,  and  resourcefulness.  They  make  for  national  self- 
respect  and  self-confidence. 

And  so  it  is  with  the  American.  His  place  in  the  scheme  of 
things  is  to  reveal  to  the  world  what  can  be  done  in  the  devel- 
opment of  a  new  country  ;  and  every  crop  raised,  every  school- 
house  built,  every  rail  laid,  every  nail  driven,  is  evidence  that 
the  work  he  is  sent  to  do  is  being  done.  Instead  of  being  the 
petty  boasting  of  a  parochial-minded  provincial,  this  spirit  is 
of  the  very  essence  of  the  highest  creative  quality. 

It  is  not  a  figure  of  speech  to  say  that  every  American  has  it  in 
his  heart  that  he  is  in  a  small  sense  a  discoverer,  that  he  is  join- 
ing in  the  revelation  to  the  world  of  something  that  it  was  not 
before  aware  of  and  of  which  it  may  some  day  make  use.  Men 
work  for  what  they  think  worth  while,  and  if  they  find  their  joy 
in  proving  that  land  has  coal,  and  tell  about  it  proudly,  they 
may  be  serving  themselves,  but  they  are  also  serving  the  world. 

The  clerk  in  the  store  or  the  mechanic  in  a  mill  may  not 
consciously  engage  in  any  enterprise  which  makes  this  appeal, 
but  when  he  learns  that  the  government  of  which  he  is  a  part 
has  within  the  year  opened  a  town  on  the  shores  of  the  North 
Pacific  which  now  has  nearly  three  thousand  inhabitants,  and 
has  driven  a  railroad  nearly  forty  miles  inland  toward  the  arc- 
tic circle  on  its  way  to  the  coal  fields  of  the  Matanuska  and 
the  gold  fields  of  the  Tanana,  he  has  a  feeling  that  he  too  is 
participating  in  the  making  of  this  new  world.  One  might  say 
that  this  was  nothing  more  than  sentimental  pride.  There  is 
a  truer  and  a  more  dignified  word  for  this  quality :  it  is  the 
expression  of  the  American  instinct  for  improvement. 


50      \1TAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

We  have  a  passion  for  going  into  the  unknown,  for  answer- 
ing the  puzzles  that  are  put  to  us.  Our  imagination  is  chal- 
lenged by  difficulty.  And  the  result  has  been  a  century  of 
growth,  which  in  its  magic  and  in  its  largeness  casts  a  spell 
upon  the  mind. 

Some  months  since,  I  sought  to  learn  what  I  could  of  the 
assets  of  this  country  as  they  might  be  revealed  by  this  depart- 
ment, where  we  were  in  point  of  development,  and  what  we 
had  with  which  to  meet  the  world,  which  was  teaching  us  that 
war  was  no  longer  a  set  contest  between  more  or  less  mobile 
armed  forces  but  an  enduring  contest  between  all  the  life  forces 
of  the  contesting  parties,  their  financial  strength,  their  indus- 
trial organization  and  adaptability,  their  crop  yields,  and  their 
mineral  resources,  and  that  it  ultimately  comes  to  a  test  of  the 
very  genius  of  the  people  involved.  For  to  mobilize  an  army, 
even  a  great  army,  is  now  no  more  than  an  idle  evidence  of  a 
single  form  of  strength  if  behind  this  army  the  nation  is  not 
organized. 

An  army  is  no  longer  merely  so  many  rifles  and  men,  cart- 
ridges and  horses,  but  chemists  and  inventors,  mines  and  farms, 
automobiles  and  roads,  airships  and  gasoline,  barbed  wire  and 
turning  lathes,  railroads  and  weather  prophets — indeed,  the 
complete  machiner}^  of  an  industrial  nation's  life.  And  out  of 
the  reports  then  made  these  facts  stand  out : 

With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  minor  minerals  the  United 
States  produces  every  mineral  that  is  needed  in  industry,  and 
this  can  be  said  of  no  other  country.  We  produce  66  per  cent 
of  the  world's  output  of  petroleum,  60  per  cent  of  its  copper, 
40  per  cent  of  its  coal  and  iron,  and  32  per  cent  of  its  zinc. 
Tin  in  small  quantities  is  produced  in  Alaska,  and  platinum 
in  Oregon,  Nevada,  and  California ;  manganese  in  Virginia, 
Georgia,  Arkansas,  and  California ;  but  of  these  latter  min- 
erals, as  of  nickel  and  some  others  of  less  importance,  our 
supply  is  altogether  inadequate  for  our  consumption. 

We  can  build  a  battleship  or  an  automobile  (excepting  for  the 
tires),  a  railroad  or  a  factory,  entirely  from  the  products  of 
American  mines  and  forests.  To  replenish  the  soil  we  have 
phosphorus  in  abundance ;   potash  is  known  to  exist  in  the 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  51 

deposits  of  Searles  Lake,  California, — which,  however,  is  not 
yet  commercially  available, —  and  in  alunite,  where  it  is  com- 
bined with  aluminum,  and  deposits  of  which  are  found  in  sev- 
eral states  ;  and  nitrogen  can  be  extracted  from  the  air  by  cheap 
hydroelectric  power,  as  is  now  done  in  Germany,  Norway,  and 
elsewhere ;  so  that  we  can  feed  the  earth  and  keep  it  sustained. 

Our  soil  and  climate  are  so  varied  that  we  can  produce  all 
the  grains,  fruits,  vegetables,  and  fibers  known  to  the  temperate 
zone  and  some  found  in  the  semitropics.  And  to  crown  all 
these  we  have  water  power  that  can  be  made  to  generate  per- 
haps as  much  as  60,000,000  horse  power. 

The  public  domain  is  rapidly  growing  less,  which  means 
that  it  is  being  occupied  and  used.  Of  the  two  hundred  and 
odd  million  acres  left,  12,000,000  acres  have  already  been 
classified  as  coal  bearing,  over  4,000,000  as  probably  carrying 
oil,  and  2,600,000  as  phosphate  lands.  The  most  valuable 
discovery  made  in  recent  years  as  affecting  the  public  domain 
is  that  the  semiarid  regions  may  become  abundantly  produc- 
tive under  dry-farming  methods.  The  Territory  of  Alaska,  con- 
taining perhaps  400,000,000  acres,  is  now  the  great  body  of 
public  domain.  It  is  heavily  mineralized  and  is  a  land  of  un- 
known possibilities.  One  gold  mine  there  has  recently  erected 
a  mill  of  6000  tons  daily  capacity,  with  ore  in  sight  to  run 
this  mill  for  fifty  years. 

The  waters  that  flow  idly  to  the  sea  could  be  made  to  sup- 
port not  less  than  fifty  million  people  if  turned  upon  the  land 
that  otherwise  will  remain  pasture  land  or  altogether  worth- 
less. The  demonstration  has  been  given  that  the  lands  of  little 
rain  can  be  made  more  fruitful  than  those  where  the  rainfall 
is  abundant.  Land  and  water  we  have  ;  the  problem  of  bring- 
ing them  together  is  one  only  of  money. 

When  the  war  in  Europe  shut  off  certain  chemical  supplies, 
one  of  our  chemists,  Mr.  Rittman,  found  a  new  process  (which 
has  been  given  to  the  public),  by  which  benzol  and  toluol  — 
the  foundation  of  aniline  dyes  and  explosives — and  gaso- 
line may  be  made  from  crude  petroleum.  Mr.  Parsons  and 
Mr.  Moore  have  devised  and  proved  a  process  for  the  reduction 
of  radium  from  carnotite  ores.    An  oil  expert,  Mr.  Pollard,  was 


52 


VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 


put  to  the  task  of  saving  the  billions  of  feet  of  gas  wasting 
daily  into  the  air  from  the  oil  wells  of  Oklahoma,  and  was 
successful.  Mr.  Cottrell  has  devised  a  method  of  taking  solids 
and  liquids  out  of  smelter  smoke,  such  as  sulphuric  acid, 
arsenic,  zinc,  and  lead. 

During  the  past  fifty  years  the  people  of  the  United  States 
have  uttered  two  thirds  of  all  the  revolutionary,  epoch-making 
inventions  of  the  world,  ranging  from  the  telephone  and  the 
incandescent  lamp  to  Wright's  aeroplane  and  high-speed  steel 
(see  below).  Each  day  we  issue  an  average  of  two  hundred 
letters  patent  to  American  inventors,  and  the  number  of  in- 
ventions is  increasing  with  the  years. 

There  are  over  twenty  million  boys  and  girls  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  United  States. 

These,  then,  are  the  assets  of  the  United  States  as  revealed 
in  but  this  one  department — lands  and  waters  and  mines,  in- 
ventors and  chemists  and  engineers,  and  a  new  generation 
coming  on  which  will  add  still  further  to  the  adventurous 
annals  of  peace. 

LIST  OF  EPOCH-MAKING  INVENTIONS  BY  PEOPLE  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES  DURING  THE  LAST  FIFTY  YEARS 


Invention 

Telephone 

Typewriter 

Cash  register 

Incandescent  lamp  .... 

Talking  machine 

Electric  furnace  reduction   . 
Electrolytic  alkali  production 
Transparent  photograph  film 
Motion-picture  machine  .    . 
Buttonhole  sewing  machine 

Carborundum 

Calcium  carbide 

Artificial  graphite     .... 
Split-phase  induction  motor 

Air  brake 

Electric  welding 

Type-bar  casting 


Inventor 

Date 

Bell 

1876 

Sholes 

IS78 

Patterson 

IS85 

Edison 

iSSo 

Edison 

IS7S 

Cowles 

1885 

Castner 

1890 

Eastman 

1888 

Edison 

1893 

Reece 

1 88 1 

Acheson 

1891 

Willson 

188S 

Acheson 

1S96 

Tesla 

1887 

Westinghouse 

1869 

Thomson 

18S9 

Mergenthaler 

1SS5 

NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  53 

LIST  OF  EPOCH-MAKING  INVENTIONS  (Continued) 


Chain-stitch  shoe-sewing  machine  .  .  . 
Single-type  composing  machine  .... 
Continuous-process  match  machine      .    . 

Chrome  tanning 

Disk  plows  (modern  type) 

Welt  machine 

Electric  lamp 

Recording  adding  machine 

Celluloid 

Automatic  knot-tying  harvester  machine 

Water  gas 

Machine  for  making  barbed  wire     .     .     . 

Rotary  converter 

Automatic  car  coupler 

High-speed  steel 

Dry-air  process  for  blast  furnace      .     .     . 

Block  signals  for  railways 

Trolley  car 

Harveyized  armor  plate 


French  &  Myers 

1881 

Lanston 

1887 

Beecher 

1888 

Schulz 

1884 

Hardy 

1896 

Goodyear 

1871 

Brush 

1879 

Burroughs 

1888 

Hyatt 

1870 

Appleby 

1880 

Lowe 

1875 

Glidden 

1875 

Bradley 

1887 

Janney 

1873 

Taylor  &  White 

1901 

Gayley 

1894 

Robinson 

1872 

Van  Depoele  & 

Sprague 

1S84-1887 

Harvey 

1891 

As  compared  with  this  list,  note  the  following  list  of  impor- 
tant inventions  that  have  been  made  during  the  same  period  by 
foreigners,  which  has  been  compiled  from  information  furnished 
by  the  forty-three  examining  divisions  of  the  Patent  Office : 


Invention 


Electric  steel 

Dynamite 

Artificial  alizarin  (dye)     .     . 

Siphon  recorder 

Gas  engine  (Otto  cycle)  .  . 
Wireless  telegraphy  .  .  . 
Smokeless  powder  .... 

Diesel  oil  motor 

Centrifugal  creamer  .  .  . 
Manganese  steel  .... 
Electric  transformer  .  .  . 
Cyanide  process  for  extraclinf 

metal 

Mantle  burner 

By-product  coke  oven     .    . 


Inventor 


Heroult 

Nobel 

Graebe  &  Lieberman 

Thompson 

Otto 

Marconi 

Vielle 

Diesel 

l)c  Laval 

Iladfield 

Gaulard  &  Gibbs 


.'\rthur  &  De  Forrest 

Welsbach 

Hoffman 


Nationai-itv     Date 


French 

.Swedish 

German 

English 

German 

Italian 

French 

German 

Swedish 

English 

English 

English 

Austrian 

Austrian 


1900 
1867 
1869 
1874 
1877 
1900 
1886 
1900 
1880 
1884 
1883 

1888 
1890 
1893 


54  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

THE  CONSERVATION  OF  OUR  RESOURCES  ^ 
John  Bates  Clark 

[John  Bates  Clark  (1847-  )  is  a  well-known  political  econo- 
mist. He  was  educated  at  Amherst  College  and  has  been  a  pro- 
fessor of  political  economy  in  Columbia  University  since  1895.  The 
following  essay  is  from  a  recent  article  of  his  entitled  ''The  Eco- 
nomics of  Waste  and  Conservation."] 

The  story  of  "Realmah,"  by  Sir  Arthur  Helps,  contains  a 
description  of  a  so-called  "House  of  Wisdom."  This  was  the 
dwelling  place  of  a  number  of  prophets  who  possessed  differing 
degrees  of  prophetic  power,  lived  upon  fees,  and  had  incomes 
varying  wuth  the  number  of  their  clients.  In  an  outer  inclosure 
two  men  were  living  in  the  deepest  poverty.  They  were  called 
"Spoolans,"  and  were  contemptuously  treated  and  almost 
never  consulted,  since  their  special  gift  consisted  in  predicting 
events  that  would  occur  a  hundred  or  more  years  in  the  future. 
In  the  next  inclosure  there  were  men  who  were  only  a  shade 
less  miserable.  They  were  the  "Raths,"  and  had  few  clients, 
because  they  could  foretell  only  what  would  occur  after  a 
lapse  of  twenty-seven  years.  In  another  and  better  apart- 
ment there  were  five  "  Uraths,"  who  could  tell  what  would  hap- 
pen after  a  single  year  should  elapse,  and  these  men  were  in  good 
spirits,  handsomely  dressed,  and  evidently  well  off ;  while  the 
"Auraths,"  who  could  prophesy  what  would  happen  after  a 
month,  had  a  superabundance  of  clients  and  of  fees.  Vastly 
v/ealthy  were  the  "  Mauraths,"  who  could  foretell  what  would 
happen  after  three  days  ;  but  the  multimillionaire  of  the  com- 
pany was  the  great  "Amaurath,"  who  was  approached  with 
the  awe  with  which  a  servant  might  have  approached  Sardana- 
palus,  for  this  man  could  foresee  what  would  occur  after 
six  hours. 

This  description  applies  to  a  common  mental  attitude 
toward  the  future.    Intelligence  does,  indeed,  modify  it,  and  the 

iFrom  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  Vol.  CVI.     Reprinted  by  permission. 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  55 

man  of  property  who  is  providing  for  his  descendants  is  by 
no  means  on  a  plane  in  respect  of  forethought  with  a  happy, 
go-lucky  Southern  negro.  The  founder  of  an  estate  would  have 
need  of  the  services  of  the  most  farseeing  class  in  the  House 
of  Wisdom,  but  the  average  man  would  pass  by  or,  at  most, 
in  a  leisure  moment,  satisfy  curiosity  at  the  cost  of  a  trifling 
tip.  The  Amauraths  and  their  great  chief  would  get  the 
rich  fees. 

If  we  judge  by  appearances  it  seems  that  states  come  in  the 
same  category^  and  it  is  certainly  true  that  a  people  in  its 
entirety  will  often  act  more  blindly  than  a  select  class  would 
ever  do  in  a  private  capacity.  Yet  there  is  every  reason  why 
a  state  should  make  use  of  forethought.  A  century  is  as  nothing 
in  its  life,  and  yet  how  many  acts  do  legislatures,  congresses, 
and  parliaments  pass  for  the  benefit  of  coming  ages?  In  all 
that  concerns  those  periods  the  national  consciousness  is  dull. 
Representatives  are  allowed  to  take  short  views  and,  in  their 
capacity  as  politicians,  are  compelled  to  use  their  efforts  in 
ways  that  afford  quick  results.  Where  an  act  insures  a  benefit 
that  will  begin  at  once  and  continue  forever,  the  continuance 
does  not  tell  against  it,  but  counts  somewhat  in  its  favor^  and 
more  and  more,  it  is  fair  to  say,  the  nearer  part  of  the  endless 
future  counts  as  a  makeweight ;  but  the  real  test  comes  when 
it  is  necessary  to  sacrifice  something  now  in  order  to  gain  some- 
thing hereafter.  When  an  economic  measure  will  cost  us  some- 
thing but  will  enrich  posterity,  how  general  and  ardent  is  the 
support  of  it  ?  We  seem  willing  that  the  earth  should  be 
largely  used  up  in  a  generation  or  two. 

If  we  turn  a  hunter  loose  in  a  well-stocked  deer  forest,  will 
he  so  use  the  game  as  to  perpetuate  the  supply  ?  Not  if  there 
are  other  hunters  who  have  access  to  the  preserve.  In  that 
case  he  will  shoot  bucks,  does,  and  fawns  lest,  while  he  is 
sparing  the  does  and  fawns,  another  man  may  kill  them.  If 
he  taps  a  reservoir  of  natural  gas,  he  will  draw  off  the 
supply  as  fast  as  possible,  knowing  that  his  neighbors  will  do 
so  if  he  does  not.  These  cases  represent  the  condition  that 
insures  the  most  injurious  but  also  the  most  morally  pardon- 
able type  of  exploitation.    A  single  individual  cannot  prevent 


56      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

or  greatly  reduce  the  destruction  ;  all  he  can  do  is  to  hold  his 
hands  and  let  others  do  the  destroying  and  get  the  return. 
The  game  and  the  gas  are  at  the  mercy  of  whoever  is  near 
enough  to  them  to  take  a  hand  in  the  scramble.  If  the  hunter 
had  the  preserve  well  fenced  and  in  his  own  exclusive  posses- 
sion, he  would  not  exterminate  the  game.  A  very  little  intel- 
ligence would  make  him  rear  this  herd  as  a  ranchman  rears 
domestic  cattle ;  and  a  similar  thing  is  true  of  the  men  who  tap 
reservoirs  of  gas,  since  if  they  could  confine  and  hold  their 
several  shares  of  the  elusive  material^  they  would  not  waste  it 
as  rapidly  as  they  do. 

Exposing  any  valuable  thing  to  a  free-for-all  seizure  is  in- 
suring the  surest  and  speediest  destruction  of  it,  and  private 
ownership  marks  an  advance  on  this  condition,  even  from  the 
point  of  view  of  public  interest.  Only  a  monumental  idiot  will 
kill  a  goose  that  lays  golden  eggs  when  he  has  her  securely 
penned,  but  when  she  is  at  large  and  other  men  are  chasing 
her  an  intelligent  selfish  man  will  do  it,  since  under  those  cir- 
cumstances only  a  quick  use  of  his  gun  will  make  her  afford  to 
him  personally  even  so  much  as  a  dinner.  And  refraining  from 
shooting  would  not  save  the  goose.  The  whole  issue  lies  between 
this  particular  destroyer  and  some  other,  and  the  situation 
fairly  well  describes  the  attitude  of  many  who  prey  on  public 
resources.  They  would  do  better,  though  not  usually  very  well, 
if  they  owned  the  resources  outright.  Private  ownership  con- 
fers a  power  to  preserve  and  affords  some  motive  for  doing 
it,  and  it  is  for  the  state  to  supply  what  will  decisively  reenforce 
that  motive.  Resources  that  are  needed  by  the  public  may  well 
be  privately  owned  when,  either  spontaneously  or  under  com- 
pulsion, owners  use  them  for  the  public. 

What  would  be  a  perfectly  ideal  course  for  a  nation  to  pur- 
sue with  reference  to  the  future  ?  Give  its  people  a  keen  enough 
perception  of  conditions,  and  altruism  enough  to  estimate  the 
welfare  of  coming  generations  at  its  true  value,  and  how  far 
would  it  trench  on  its  own  immediate  gains  for  the  sake  of 
later  benefits  ?  The  supposition  itself  departs  from  the  realm  of 
fact,  for  no  such  keen  intelligence  and  perfect  altruism  have 
ever  existed  ;   and  in  asking  what  would  happen  if  they  did 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  57 

exist  we  part  company  with  realities.  We  find  at  once  that 
what  ideally  should  be  done  goes  too  far  beyond  what  is  ever 
thought  of  as  practicable  to  be  advocated  without  bringing 
suspicion  on  the  mental  state  of  those  who  favor  it.  And  yet 
it  is  well  worth  while  to  see  how  far  into  the  future  a  national 
policy  would  look  if  it  were  governed  by  perfect  intelligence 
and  high  sense  of  obligation.  A  mere  glance  will  show  how 
little  danger  there  is  of  overdoing  the  care  for  future  interests 
or  of  becoming  fanatics  on  the  subject  of  protecting  them. 

In  view  of  the  unending  ages  that  will  be  affected  by  its 
action,  an  ideal  government  would  begin  by  making  a  very 
searching  inquiry  into  the  extent  of  existing  resources  and 
would  secure,  if  not  complete  knowledge,  at  least  a  basis  for  a 
confident  estimate  of  the  length  of  time  they  would  hold  out 
under  given  rates  of  consumption.  It  would  also  do  another 
thing  which  it  strains  the  imagination  to  picture  as  a  reality, 
in  that  it  would  estimate  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  the 
future  as  quite  on  a  plane  of  importance  with  the  people  of  the 
present,  and  would  use  one  and  the  same  degree  of  care  in 
guarding  the  welfare  of  all.  As  an  end  of  effort  it  would  count 
the  happiness  of  a  thousand  generations  not  yet  born  as  a 
thousand  times  as  important  as  the  welfare  of  one  genera- 
tion now  living.  It  would,  indeed,  recognize  the  fact  that 
the  future  population  will  receive  many  of  its  blessings  by 
transmission  from  the  present  one,  and  that  there  must  be 
no  breaks  in  the  transmission.  To  impoverish  the  present 
generation  would  be  bad  for  later  ones.  Men  of  today  must 
be  well  enough  off  to  endow  their  children  with  the  means  of 
maintaining  and  gradually  raising  their  standard  of  living, 
and  this  fact  would  prove  highly  important  as  bearing  on  a 
practical  policy.  Merely  as  helping  to  make  up  the  summum 
bonum  of  economics,  human  welfare  is  scientifically  one  and 
the  same  thing  wherever,  in  point  of  time,  it  is  located. 

Still  recognizing  the  fact  that  we  are  idealizing  humanity 
and  assuming  an  insight  and  an  altruism  which  is  far  from 
existing,  we  may  ask  what  are  a  very  few  of  the  things  that 
with  a  really  just  regard  for  a  thousand  generations — a  small 
fraction  of  the  number  that  have  already  lived  and  passed 


S8     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

away — a  government  would  do.  It  would  call  a  halt  on  the 
unlimited  burning  of  coal  for  motive  power.  Long  before  a 
hundred  generations  will  have  passed,  this  will  be  sorely 
needed  for  heating  dwellings  and  workshops  and  for  smelting 
ores.  A  steam  engine  utilizes  a  small  fraction  of  the  potential 
energy  of  the  coal,  while  a  smelting  furnace  utilizes  more, 
and  an  apparatus  for  heating  dwellings,  even  where  it  is  waste- 
ful, puts  the  fuel  to  a  very  necessary  use  and  gets  a  great, 
absolute  benefit  from  it.  A  policy  that  would  protect  the 
interests  of  the  later  dwellers  on  the  planet  would  stop  burning 
up  the  combustible  part  of  it  in  an  unnecessary  way  and  would 
get  motive  power  from  waterfalls,  tidal  movements,  and  waves. 
In  the  end  it  might  conceivably  utilize  the  electricity  that  is 
wasted  in  thunderstorms,  and  stop  the  storm ;  or,  as  Edward 
Atkinson  once  suggested,  it  might  create  electrical  currents  by 
induction,  through  the  motion  of  the  earth.  The  revolving 
planet  would  thus  be  converted  into  a  dynamo,  and  if  the 
other  planets  and  the  sun  served  the  purpose  of  magnets,  and 
the  combination  were  made  to  drive  our  ships  and  our  railroad 
trains,  then  of  a  truth  we  should  have  "hitched  our  wagons 
to  a  star."  It  is  probably  doing  that,  in  the  more  familiar  and 
figurative  sense,  to  suggest  this  possibility  at  all ;  and  decidedly 
it  is  doing  this  in  a  fatuous  and  unhappy  way  to  make  the 
chance  of  working  such  mechanical  miracles  in  the  future  a 
reason  for  destroying  our  stock  of  fuel  and  letting  coming  gen- 
erations shift  for  themselves.  What  if,  after  the  fuel  is  gone, 
the  earth  declines  to  be  the  dynamo  we  need?  What  is  not 
fanciful  is  the  opinion  that  in  simpler  and  more  obvious  ways 
it  is  possible  to  get  from  other  sources  much  of  the  power 
that  we  now  get  from  coal. 

Preserving  forests  and  husbanding  natural  gas  and  mineral 
oil  are  demanded  in  the  interest  of  a  very  near  period.  For 
within  the  single  century  is  likely  to  come  the  evil  which 
destruction  of  these  gifts  of  nature  will  cause.  Moreover,  it  is 
perfectly  certain  that,  quite  apart  from  causing  destruction  of 
coal,  the  making  over  to  private  citizens  of  a  vast  value  in 
known  deposits  of  it  now  in  public  ownership  will  misuse  the 
people's  property  in  a  way  of  which  they  should  and  will  take 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  59 

account.  Without  in  any  wise  limiting  the  use  of  the  fuel  or 
ceasing  to  treat  it  as  an  asset  of  the  people  now  living,  we 
shall  call  a  halt  on  recklessly  alienating  it. 

Forests  present  a  problem  by  themselves,  and  it  is  much  in 
the  foreground.  The  interests  dependent  on  them  are  vital,  and 
the  general  policy  that  is  needed  is  clear.  At  stake  are  the 
preservation  of  the  water  supply  and,  in  mountainous  regions, 
of  the  soil,  and  the  furnishing  of  lumber,  fuel,  paper  pulp,  and 
many  other  products.  Much  of  the  exploitation  that  is  now 
going  on  both  destroys  existing  trees  and  prevents  others  from 
growing,  and  it  exposes  untouched  areas  of  forest  to  destruc- 
tion by  fire.  Lumbermen  are  barely  beginning  to  destroy  the 
tree  tops  and  branches  which  the  cutting  of  a  forest  leaves 
strewn  on  the  ground.  When  they  are  burned,  one  pine  forest 
is  naturally  succeeded  by  another ;  whereas,  when  they  are 
left,  it  is  usually  followed  by  cottonwoods.  To  save  a  very 
slight  present  expense  the  supply  of  lumber  for  the  near  future 
is  put  in  jeopardy,  and  the  case  for  rigorous  public  regulation 
is  a  clear  one. 

In  another  respect  forestry  is  peculiar.  Conservation  not 
only  permits  but  requires  the  use  of  the  thing  that  is  the 
object  of  care.  WTien  the  crew  of  a  ship  are  on  a  short  allow- 
ance of  food,  the  purpose  is  so  to  conserve  the  food  as  to  make  it 
do  its  utmost  for  the  consumers.  If  the  voyage  is  long  enough 
the  supply  will  come  to  an  end  despite  all  efforts,  but  it  is  not  so 
with  forests.  There  is  no  need  of  their  ever  disappearing  or 
dwindling.  Cutting  may  be  followed  by  renewed  growing,  and 
the  supply  may  last  forever.  Humanity  is  on  an  unending 
voyage  and  may  secure,  in  the  case  of  lumber,  an  unfailing 
supply,  but  not  till  the  slaughtering  of  forests  that  has  thus  far 
gone  on  is  brought  to  an  end. 

We  have  nearly  if  not  quite  reached  the  point  where  the 
measures  that  the  state  needs  to  prescribe  would  be  profitable 
for  private  owners.  Such  regulation  would,  at  least,  impose  on 
private  owners  a  far  lighter  burden  than  would  many  another 
measure  of  rational  conservation.  The  scientific  treatment  of 
forests  not  only  does  not  preclude  a  use  of  them  but  positively 
requires  it,  and  complete  disuse  is  itself  wasteful.    Judicious 


6o  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

cutting  may  go  on  forever  without  lessening  the  supply  of 
timber  which  a  forest  contains,  while  refraining  from  all  cut- 
ting is  like  letting  fruit  or  growing  crops  go  to  decay.  The  trees 
that  are  ripe  for  use  may  give  place  to  others  which  will  keep 
up  the  succession  and  preserve  forever  the  integrity  of  the 
forest ;  and  few,  indeed,  are  the  public  measures  which  would 
do  as  much  for  the  general  welfare  as  insisting  on  this  amount 
of  conservation. 

There  is  one  point  in  forest  economy  which  demands  especial 
eniphasizing  ;  namely,  that  in  a  certain  sense  the  common 
allegation  is  true  that  a  small  area  of  growing  trees  is  capable 
of  meeting  the  entire  demand  of  the  country  for  lumber.  It 
will  do  so  at  a  price.  With  the  forests  depleted  the  price  rises, 
the  use  of  lumber  falls  off,  and  for  many  purposes  for  which  we 
once  used  it,  we  go  without  it.  For  imperative  needs  there  is 
enough  of  it  still,  but  is  it  right  that  we  should  have  to  limit 
ourselves  to  those  uses  and  pay  famine  rates  for  the  lumber 
that  they  require?  Yet  that  is  the  condition  we  shall  rapidly 
approach  if  no  care  is  used  to  keep  in  available  condition  the 
forests  that  we  have.  It  is  the  time  for  prescribing  the  simple 
beginnings  of  scientific  forestry,  for  inaugurating  it  on  public 
lands  and  enforcing  the  practice  on  private  lands.  We  may 
not  yet  be  ready  for  the  German  system,  that  in  the  future  will 
be  called  for  here  ;  but  we  are  more  than  ready  for  the  measures 
that  will  stop  the  destruction  both  of  growing  timber  and  of 
the  sources  of  future  timber. 

Private  monopoly  is  a  hateful  thing,  for  which  good  words 
are  seldom  to  be  said  ;  but  there  is  one  palliative  fact  about  a 
monopoly  of  forests — that  it  would  probably  curtail  produc- 
tion, and  it  would  let  new  forests  grow.  In  the  single  point 
of  perpetuating  the  supply  of  lumber,  the  interests  of  a  monop- 
oly would  more  nearly  harmonize  with  those  of  the  state  than 
those  of  ordinary  proprietors.  Vanishing  resources  would  last 
longer  in  its  hands  than  they  will  when  held  by  private  and 
competing  owners.  It  would  be  more  endurable  to  pay,  in  the 
shape  of  a  high  price,  a  small  and  permanent  tax  to  a  monopoly 
than  to  pay  to  anybody  a  famine  price  after  the  forests  are 
largely  destroyed.    But  why  should  we  do  either  ?    If  we  must 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  6 1 

have  nothing  but  purely  private  action,  there  is  something  to 
be  said  in  favor  of  monopoly  ;  but  if  we  can  have  efficient 
regulation,  all  such  apologetic  pleas  fail. 

We  can,  if  we  choose,  own  forests  publicly  and  manage  them 
for  the  common  good.  The  aversion  to  monopoly  should  be 
and  is  greater  than  the  aversion  to  a  limited  amount  of  public 
production,  and  it  is  far  greater  than  is  the  opposition  to  public 
regulation.  These  two  measures  afford  the  escape  from  the 
hard  alternative  of  the  "devil  and  the  deep  sea," — the  former 
being  the  control  of  the  lumber  supply  by  a  great  self-seeking 
corporation ;  and  the  other,  the  destroying  of  it  by  compet- 
ing lumbermen.  The  logic  of  the  entire  situation  points  to 
some  public  forestry  as  one  of  the  admissible  and,  within  limits, 
desirable  functions  of  the  state,  and  a  bold  and  effective  states- 
manship will  lose  no  time  in  recognizing  this  fact  and  preparing 
to  act  on  it.  There  is  no  taint  of  real  socialism  in  such  a  policy. 
For  various  good  reasons  we  must  have  forest  reserves,  and  it 
is  proper  to  use  them  in  better  ways  than  by  letting  the 
lumber  go  altogether  to  waste  or  by  intrusting  the  cutting  to 
contractors.  Let  private  forestry  also  continue  on  its  present 
great  scale,  but  let  it  be  under  regulation. 

There  are  other  wastes  going  on  which  rival  the  destruction 
of  forests  in  sacrificing  the  future  to  the  present.  Oil  is  now 
offered  as  a  fuel,  and  the  owners  of  engines  are  invited  to  con- 
sider the  comparative  cost  per  horse  power  of  oil  and  of  coal. 
The  immediate  cost  account,  and  no  further  consideration,  will 
decide  whether  this  material  shall  go  the  way  of  natural  gas. 
Exploitation  of  the  coal  supply  is  a  serious  matter  in  a  view 
that  is  rational  enough  to  range  over  the  coming  centuries. 
To  a  world  that  neither  knows  nor  cares  what  will  happen  more 
than  a  hundred  years  hence,  it  is  a  matter  of  indifference.  Con- 
servation in  the  case  of  coal,  however,  has  to  do  with  something 
besides  the  manner  of  using  it ;  namely,  the  question  of  owning 
it.  We  shall  use  it  freely  enough  in  any  case,  but  there  is  no  rea- 
son for  directly  giving  vast  quantities  of  it  to  private  persons  or 
corporations.    That  depletes  the  immediate  estate  of  the  people. 

In  the  general  policy  of  conservation  the  issue  is  one  of 
transient  interests  as  against  permanent  ones,  of  small  benefits 


62      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

as  against  great  ones,  of  private  gain  as  against  public  wel- 
fare. The  appeal  throughout  is  to  the  collective  intelligence 
of  the  people.  The  more  rational  is  the  view  that  is  taken, 
the  more  radical  is  the  conservation  that  is  favored.  The 
people  are  as  yet  not  fully  alive  to  the  necessity  for  a  thorough- 
going protection  of  the  resources  of  the  near  future ;  and 
those  who  thrive  by  wasting  them  are  extremely  alive  to  the 
desirability  of  continuing  the  operation.  The  case  calls  for 
a  leadership  that  shall  organize  the  people  and  enable  them 
to  act  on  the  principles  which  they  vaguely  perceive  in  both 
guarding  and  utilizing  their  rich  inheritance.  The  utmost  that 
any  party  is  practically  trying  to  get  is  less  than  the  welfare 
of  even  a  single  century  requires. 


COUNTRY   LIFE   AND    CONSERVATION^ 

Theodore  Roosevelt 

[For  biographical  sketch  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  see  page  14.] 

There  is  no  body  of  our  people  whose  interests  are  more 
inextricably  interwoven  with  the  interests  of  all  the  people  than 
is  the  case  with  the  farmers.  The  Country  Life  Commission 
should  be  revived  with  greatly  increased  powers ;  its  aban- 
donment was  a  severe  blow  to  the  interests  of  our  people.  The 
welfare  of  the  farmer  is  a  basic  need  of  this  nation.  It  is  the 
men  from  the  farm  who  in  the  past  have  taken  the  lead  in 
every  great  movement  within  this  nation,  whether  in  time  of  war 
or  in  time  of  peace.  It  is  well  to  have  our  cities  prosper,  but 
it  is  not  well  if  they  prosper  at  the  expense  of  the  country, 
I  am  glad  to  say  that  in  many  sections  of  our  country  there  has 
been  an  extraordinary  revival  of  recent  years  in  intelligent  in- 
terest in  and  work  for  those  who  live  in  the  open  country. 
In  this  movement  the  lead  must  be  taken  by  the  farmers  them- 
selves ;  but  our  people  as  a  whole,  through  their  governmental 
agencies,  should  back  the  farmers.    Everything  possible  should 

iprom  the  Outlook,  Vol.  CII.     Reprinted  by  permission. 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  63 

be  done  to  better  the  economic  condition  of  the  farmer  and  also 
to  increase  the  social  value  of  the  life  of  the  farmer,  the  farmer's 
wife,  and  their  children.  The  burdens  of  labor  and  loneliness 
bear  heavily  on  the  women  in  the  country  ;  their  welfare  should 
be  the  especial  concern  of  all  of  us.  Everything  possible  should 
be  done  to  make  life  in  the  country  profitable  so  as  to  be 
attractive  from  the  economic  standpoint  and  also  to  give  an 
outlet  among  farming  people  for  those  forms  of  activity  which 
now  tend  to  make  life  in  the  cities  especially  desirable  for 
ambitious  men  and  women.  There  should  be  just  the  same 
chance  to  live  as  full,  as  well-rounded,  and  as  highly  useful 
lives  in  the  country  as  in  the  city. 

The  government  must  cooperate  with  the  farmer  to  make 
the  farm  more  productive.  There  must  be  no  skinning  of  the 
soil.  The  farm  should  be  left  to  the  farmer's  son  in  better  and 
not  worse  condition  because  of  its  cultivation.  INIoreover,  every 
invention  and  improvement,  every  discovery  and  economy, 
should  be  at  the  service  of  the  farmer  in  the  work  of  produc- 
tion ;  and,  in  addition,  he  should  be  helped  to  cooperate  in 
business  fashion  with  his  fellows,  so  that  the  money  paid  by 
the  consumer  for  the  product  of  the  soil  shall  to  as  large  a 
degree  as  possible  go  into  the  pockets  of  the  man  who  raised 
that  product  from  the  soil.  So  long  as  the  farmer  leaves 
cooperative  activities  with  their  profit  sharing  to  the  city  man 
of  business,  so  long  will  the  foundations  of  wealth  be  under- 
mined and  the  comforts  of  enlightenment  be  impossible  in  the 
country  communities.  In  every  respect  this  nation  has  to  learn 
the  lessons  of  efficiency  in  production  and  distribution  and  of 
avoidance  of  waste  and  destruction  ;  we  must  develop  and 
improve  instead  of  exhausting  our  resources.  It  is  entirely 
possible  by  improvements  in  production,  in  the  avoidance  of 
v/aste,  and  in  business  methods  on  the  part  of  the  farmer  to 
give  him  an  increased  income  from  his  farm  while  at  the  same 
time  reducing  to  the  consumer  the  price  of  the  articles  raised 
on  the  farm.  Important  although  education  is  everywhere,  it 
has  a  special  importance  in  the  country.  The  country  school 
must  fit  the  country  life  ;  in  the  country,  as  elsewhere,  educa- 
tion must  be  hitched  up  with  life.    The  country  church  and 


64      \  ITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

the  country  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations have  great  parts  to  play.  The  farmers  must  own  and 
work  their  own  land  ;  steps  must  be  taken  at  once  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  tendency  towards  absentee  landlordism  and  tenant 
farming  ;  this  is  one  of  the  most  imperative  duties  confronting 
the  nation.  The  question  of  rural  banking  and  rural  credits 
is  also  of   immediate  importance. 

There  can  be  no  greater  issue  than  that  of  conservation  in 
this  country.  Just  as  we  must  conserve  our  men,  women,  and 
children,  so  we  must  conserve  the  resources  of  the  land  on 
which  they  live.  We  must  conserve  the  soil  so  that  our  children 
shall  have  a  land  that  is  more  and  not  less  fertile  than  that  our 
fathers  dwelt  in.  We  must  conserve  the  forests,  not  by  disuse 
but  by  use,  making  them  more  valuable  at  the  same  time  that 
we  use  them.  We  must  conserve  the  mines.  Moreover,  we 
must  insure  so  far  as  possible  the  use  of  certain  types  of 
great  natural  resources  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  as  a  whole. 
The  public  should  not  alienate  its  fee  in  the  water  power  which 
will  be  of  incalculable  consequence  as  a  source  of  power  in  the 
immediate  future.  The  nation  and  the  states  within  their  sev- 
eral spheres  should  by  immediate  legislation  keep  the  fee  of  the 
water  power,  leasing  its  use  only  for  a  reasonable  length  of 
time  on  terms  that  will  secure  the  interests  of  the  public.  Just 
as  the  nation  has  gone  into  the  work  of  irrigation  in  the  West, 
so  it  should  go  into  the  work  of  helping  reclaim  the  swamp  lands 
of  the  South.  We  should  undertake  the  complete  development 
and  control  of  the  INIississippi  as  a  national  work,  just  as  we 
have  undertaken  the  work  of  building  the  Panama  Canal.  We 
can  use  the  plant  and  we  can  use  the  human  experience  left 
free  by  the  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal  in  so  developing 
the  ]\Iississippi  as  to  make  it  a  mighty  highroad  of  commerce 
and  a  source  of  fructification  and  not  of  death  to  the  rich  and 
fertile  lands  lying  along  its  lower  length. 

In  the  West  the  forests,  the  grazing  lands,  the  reserves  of 
every  kind,  should  be  so  handled  as  to  be  in  the  interests  of 
the  actual  settler,  the  actual  home  maker.  He  should  be  en- 
couraged to  use  them  at  once,  but  in  such  a  way  as  to  preserve 
and  not  exhaust  them.    We  do  not  intend  that  our  natural 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  65 

resources  shall  be  exploited  by  the  few  against  the  interests  of 
the  many,  nor  do  we  intend  to  turn  them  over  to  any  man  who 
v/ill  wastefully  use  them  by  destruction,  and  leave  to  those  who 
come  after  us  a  heritage  damaged  by  just  so  much.  The  man 
in  whose  interests  we  are  working  is  the  small  farmer  and 
settler,  the  man  who  works  with  his  own  hands,  who  is 
working  not  only  for  himself  but  for  his  children  and  who 
wishes  to  leave  to  them  the  fruits  of  his  labor.  His  permanent 
welfare  is  the  prime  factor  for  consideration  in  developing  the 
policy  of  conservation,  for  our  aim  is  to  preserve  our  natural 
resources  for  the  public  as  a  whole,  for  the  average  man  and 
the  average  woman  who  make  up  the  body  of  the  American 
people. 


FORWARD  TO  THE  LAND  MOVEMENT  ^ 
David  Franklin  Houston 

[David  Franklin  Houston  (1866-  )  was  educated  at  South 
Carolina  College  and  at  Harvard.  Before  becoming  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  he  had  taught  political  science  and  served  as  the  head  of 
the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  of  Texas  and  of  Washington 
University,  St.  Louis.  He  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  1920-1Q21.] 

Interest  in  land  for  homes  and  farms  increases  in  the  nation 
as  the  population  grows.  It  has  become  more  marked  as  the 
area  of  public  land  suitable  and  available  for  agriculture  has 
diminished.  It  is  intensified  at  the  present  time  by  reason  of 
the  suggestion  and  desire  that  returned  soldiers  and  others 
who  may  wish  to  secure  farms  shall  have  opportunity  to  do  so 
under  suitable  conditions.  It  finds  expression,  too,  in  discus- 
sions of  the  number  of  tenant  farmers  and  in  its  meaning 
and  significance. 

There  is  still  room  in  the  nation  for  many  more  people  on 
farms.  The  United  States  proper  contains  about  1,900,000,000 
acres  of  land,  of  which  an  area  of  1,140,000,000  acres,  or  60 

■■  From  the  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.  Government  Print- 
ing Office,  1919. 


66  VITAL  FORCES  IX  CURRENT  EVENTS 

per  cent,  is  tillable.  Approximately  367,000,000  acres,  or  32 
per  cent  of  this,  was  planted  in  crops  in  19 18.  In  other  words, 
for  ever>'  hundred  acres  now  tilled  300  acres  may  be  utilized 
when  the  country  is  fully  settled.  Of  course  much  of  the  best 
land  (especially  that  most  easily  brought  under  cultivation  and 
in  reasonably  easy  reach  of  large  consuming  centers)  is  in  use, 
though  much  of  it,  possibly  85  per  cent,  is  not  yielding  full 
returns.  Extension  of  the  farmed  area  will  consequently  be 
made  with  greater  expense  for  clearing,  preparation^  drainage, 
and  irrigation,  and  for  profitable  operation  will  involve  market- 
ing arrangements  of  a  high  degree  of  perfection  and  the  dis- 
criminating selection  of  crops  having  a  relatively  high  unit 
value. 

Increased  production  can  therefore  be  secured  in  two  ways : 
namely,  through  the  use  of  more  land  and  through  the  adop- 
tion of  improved  processes  of  cultivation  of  all  land  and  of 
marketing.  The  latter  involves  the  general  application  of 
the  best  methods  used  by  the  most  skillful  farmers  and  urged 
by  experienced,  practical,  and  scientific  experts.  It  will  neces- 
sitate seed  selection  and  improvement^  plant  and  animal 
breeding,  soil  development  through  rotation,  the  discriminating 
use  of  fertilizers,  the  control  and  eradication  of  plant  and 
animal  diseases,  good  business  practice  and  thrift,  and  many 
other  things.  It  means  that  farming  must  be  profitable  and 
that  society  must  be  willing  to  pay  the  price.  Under  no  other 
condition  can  farming  expand.  It  means,  too,  that  only  as 
many  will  or  need  stay  on  farms  as  may  be  necessary  to 
supply  what  the  consumers  will  take  at  prices  which  will  jus- 
tify production.  IMany  people  speak  as  if  they  thought  there 
should  be  no  limit  to  the  number  engaged  in  agriculture  or  to 
production  of  crops.  The  farmer  must  consider  his  balance 
just  as  much  as  any  other  business  man.  The  number  of  in- 
dividuals remaining  in  the  farming  industry  will,  in  the  long 
run,  continue  to  adjust  itself  roughly  to  the  economic  demand 
and  will  increase  as  it  expands  or  as  relative  economies  are 
effected. 

To  a  certain  extent  we  are  still  pioneering  the  continent, 
agriculturally  and  otherwise,  and  are  still  exporters  of  food, 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  67 

feedstuffs,  and  materials  for  clothing.  With  wise  foresight 
and  increased  employment  of  scientific  practice,  under  the 
stimulation  of  intelligent  agencies,  we  can  take  care  of  and 
provide  for  a  very  much  larger  population  under  even  more 
favorable  circumstances  and  in  greater  prosperity.  This  is 
the  task  to  which  the  nation  has  set  itself,  and  indicates  the 
responsibility  resting  upon  each  individual  and  especially  upon 
the  farming  population  and  state  and  federal  agencies  respon- 
sible for  leadership.  We  have,  up  to  the  present,  succeeded 
in  this  enterprise.  In  the  years  from  1900  to  191 5  the  nation 
gained  a  population  of  approximately  22,000,000,  and  they 
have  been  fed  and  clothed  in  large  measure  from  domestic 
sources.  It  is  estimated  that  in  the  years  from  191 5  to  1918 
the  population  increased  by  3,200,000,  of  which  a  very  small 
part  was  from  immigration.  We  shall,  perhaps,  gain  as  many 
more  in  the  next  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  even  if  the  rate  of 
immigration  should  not  be  maintained,  for  the  natural  growth 
in  recent  years^  averaging  about  three  fourths  of  a  million  a 
year,  shows  an  upward  tendency. 

It  would  be  desirable  to  facilitate  land  settlement  in  more 
orderly  fashion.  This  can  be  effected  in  a  measure  by  sys- 
tematic effort  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  government,  the  states, 
and  the  several  communities  to  furnish  through  appropriate 
agencies  more  reliable  information,  intelligent  guidance,  and 
well-considered  settlement  plans.  The  nation  has  suffered  not 
a  little  from  irresponsible  and  haphazard  private  direction  of 
settlement.  In  many  sections,  especially  in  the  newer  and  the 
more  rapidly  developing  ones,  the  situation  has  been  compli- 
cated by  the  activities  of  promoters  whose  main  concern  was 
to  dispose  of  their  properties.  They  too  frequently  succeeded 
in  attracting  farmers  to  localities  remote  from  markets,  where 
they  either  failed  to  produce  crops  or  met  with  disaster  through 
lack  of  market  outlets  or  adecjuate  marketing  arrangements. 

It  is  particularly  vital  that  by  every  feasible  means  the 
processes  of  acquiring  ownership  of  farms  be  encouraged  and 
hastened.  This  process  is  real  in  spite  of  appearances  to  the 
contrary.  It  has  been  too  generally  assumed  and  represented 
that  tenancy  has  increased  at  the  expense  of  ownership  and  that 


68  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

we  are  witnessing  agricultural  deterioration  in  this  direction. 
Tenancy  does  present  aspects  which  should  cause  great  con- 
cern, but  its  bright  sides  have  not  been  sufficiently  considered. 
The  situation  does  not  warrant  a  pessimistic  conclusion.  In 
the  thirty  years  from  1880  to  1910  the  number  of  farms  in  the 
United  States  increased  from  4^09,000  to  6,362,000;  the 
number  of  those  owned,  from  2,984,000  to  4,007,000  (a  gain 
of  1,023,000,  or  34.3  per  cent)  ;  and  the  number  operated  by 
the  tenants,  from  1,025,000  to  2,355,000  (a  gain  of  1,330,000, 
or  129.9  psr  cent).  But  in  1910  five  eighths  of  the  farms  and 
68  per  cent  of  the  acreage  of  all  land  in  farms  were  operated 
by  owners,  and  65  per  cent  of  the  improved  land.  The  number 
of  farms  increased  faster  than  the  agricultural  population.  The 
only  class  not  operating  farms  who  could  take  them  up  were 
the  younger  men,  and  it  is  largely  from  them  that  the  class 
of  tenants  has  been  recruited. 

In  a  recent  study  of  the  cases  of  nine  thousand  farmers, 
mainly  in  the  Middle  Western  states  lying  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  it  was  found  that  more  than  90  per  cent  were  brought 
up  on  farms;  that  313^  per  cent  remained  on  their  fathers' 
farms  until  they  became  owners  and  27  per  cent  until  they 
became  tenants,  then  owners  ;  that  13^  per  cent  passed  from 
wage  earners  to  ownership,  skipping  the  tenant  stage  ;  and  that 
18  per  cent  were  first  farm  boys,  then  wage  earners,  later  ten- 
ants, and  finally  owners.  It  is  stated,  on  the  basis  of  census 
statistics,  that  76  per  cent  of  the  farmers  under  twenty-five 
years  of  age  are  tenants,  while  the  percentage  falls  with  age,  so 
that  among  those  fifty-five  years  old  and  above  only  20  per 
cent  are  tenants.  In  the  older  sections  of  the  country  (except 
in  the  South,  which  has  a  large  negro  population),  that  is, 
in  the  New  England  and  INIiddle  Atlantic  States,  the  tenant 
farmers  formed  a  smaller  proportion  in  19 10  than  in  1900.  This 
is  also  the  case  with  the  Rocky  Mountain  and  Pacific  divisions, 
where  there  has  been  a  relative  abundance  of  lands.  The  con- 
ditions on  the  whole,  therefore,  are  not  in  the  direction  of  de- 
terioration but  of  improvement.  The  process  has  been  one 
of  emergence  of  wage  laborers  and  sons  of  farmers  first  to 
tenancy  and  then  to  ownership. 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  69 

AMERICA'S  FOREIGN  TRADE^ 
George  E.  Roberts 

[George  E.  Roberts  (1857-  )  spent  his  early  years  in  Iowa 
and  was  from  1878  to  igog  proprietor  of  the  Fort  Dodge  Messenger. 
Since  i8g8  he  has  served  three  terms  as  Director  of  the  Mint.  He 
is  at  present  assistant  to  the  president  of  the  National  City  Bank 
of  New  York,  and  as  such  is  in  close  contact  with  the  prob- 
lems and  opportunities  of  American  business  expansion  in  foreign 
countries.] 

The  end  of  the  war  finds  the  United  States  in  a  much 
stronger  position  in  world  affairs  than  it  was  at  the  beginning, 
but  it  finds  us  with  new  obligations  and  responsibilities,  some 
of  which  are  of  special  concern  to  you  who  are  members  of  this 
organization  of  investment  bankers.  Among  the  most  signifi- 
cant of  the  changes  which  have  occurred  is  the  change  of  our 
financial  position  from  that  of  a  debtor  nation  to  that  of  a 
creditor  nation.  Do  we  comprehend  all  that  this  means  ?  We 
understand,  of  course,  that  it  means  that  in  our  financial  rela- 
tions the  balance  of  payments  will  be  in  our  favor,  but  do  we 
know  all  that  this  involves,  and  the  policies  which  it  imposes 
upon  us  ?  A  people  who  are  creditors  to  the  world  must  not 
play  a  miserly  part ;  they  must  play  a  helpful,  reciprocal  part. 
A  creditor  nation  which  expects  to  receive  its  balances  regu- 
larly in  gold  will  not  make  the  best  use  of  its  wealth  or 
remain  a  leading  factor  in  world  affairs. 

In  the  United  States  we  are  now  confronted  with  the  ques- 
tion :  Can  we  rise  promptly  to  an  appreciation  of  the  necessities 
of  our  newly  attained  position  ?  Are  we  ready  to  lend  and 
lend  and  lend  continually  and  permanently  to  support  and 
develop  our  foreign  trade?  Will  our  investment  market  take 
up  the  offerings  that  will  have  to  be  made  here  in  order  to  hold 
the  exchange  situation  level? 

1  An  address  delivered  before  the  Investment  Bankers'  Association  of 
America  in   1919. 


70      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

The  truth  is  that  we  have  developed  our  industries  and  in- 
creased our  wealth  so  far  beyond  the  position  of  other  countries 
that  in  the  very  nature  of  things  it  is  now  to  our  interest  to  be  a 
lending  nation  until  the  equilibrium  is  in  some  degree  restored. 

The  suggestion  has  been  made  in  this  country  that  the 
United  States  should  forgive  or  cancel  its  loans  to  Great  Britain, 
France,  and  other  allies  on  account  of  the  services  they  have 
rendered  to  the  world  (this  country  included)  in  the  war.  I 
am  not  going  to  discuss  the  merits  or  the  difficulties  of  that 
proposal,  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  debtor  countries 
would  care  to  have  the  subject  brought  under  discussion  or  any 
such  action  taken,  but  it  is  pertinent  to  say  that  from  our  own 
standpoint,  in  view  of  the  present  situation  in  the  exchanges, 
early  payments  upon  either  principal  or  interest  are  undesir- 
able. We  already  have  more  than  our  share  of  the  world's 
gold,  and  additions  to  our  stock  would  be  harmful  instead  of 
advantageous.  Payments  in  goods  upon  any  such  scale  as 
would  be  required  would  cause  an  interference  with  our  estab- 
lished industries  for  which  the  country  is  unprepared,  and 
which  certainly  would  be  vigorously  opposed.  Other  countries 
have  far  greater  need  to  import  commodities  than  has  the 
United  States.  There  is  no  doubt  that  as  a  practical  proposi- 
tion the  business  interests  of  this  country  would  say,  "We  do 
not  want  to  be  paid  in  goods/'  and  this  means  that  we  must  in- 
crease the  amount  of  the  loans  by  the  amount  of  the  interest, 
perhaps  for  years  to  come,  not  because  the  debtors  are  unable  to 
pay  but  because  as  a  creditor  nation  we  find  it  to  our  advantage 
at  this  time  to  increase  our  investments  abroad. 

There  is  a  natural  equilibrium  in  economic  affairs  which  in 
the  long  run  is  bound  to  be  maintained.  There  is  an  altruism  in 
the  economic  law  which  prevents  an  individual  or  a  nation 
from  absorbing  wealth  without  limit.  An  individual  whose  in- 
vestments have  reached  the  point  where  the  income  more  than 
suffices  for  his  own  wants  goes  on  accumulating  and  reinvesting 
his  surplus,  although  the  gains  no  longer  contribute  anything 
to  his  personal  needs  or  comfort.  It  is  reserve  wealth  or  surplus 
wealth  to  him.  Nominally  and  lawfully  it  belongs  to  him  ;  he 
controls  it ;  but  actually  it  is  in  the  service  of  the  public. 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  71 

And  so  it  is  advantageous  for  a  country  whose  stock  of 
wealth  is  proportionately  greater  than  that  of  the  rest  of  the 
world  to  grant  aid  to  other  countries  less  advanced  or  tempo- 
rarily short  of  working  capital.  In  our  economic  relations  our 
obligations  coincide  with  our  largest  and  best  interests.  There  is 
an  obligation  upon  us  to  assist  in  restoring  industrial  order  in 
the  devastated  regiotis  of  Europe,  to  put  these  people  back  into 
homes  and  workshops,  to  supply  them  with  the  means  to  be- 
come self-supporting  and  prosperous  again,  and  it  is  to  our 
interest  to  do  it,  because  it  will  give  employment  to  our  own 
industries.  Our  own  interests  will  be  best  served  by  allowing 
our  income  from  the  foreign  loans  to  remain  in  the  possession 
and  service  of  our  debtors.  Neither  the  principal  nor  the 
interest  will  ever  be  wrung  from  distressed  peoples.  When  the 
payments  are  made  it  will  be  done  by  the  natural  readjustments 
in  international  affairs,  and  by  that  time  the  productive  powers 
of  all  countries  will  have  so  increased  that  no  burden  will 
be  felt. 

I  would  like  to  emphasize,  in  this  connection,  what  to  me  is 
a  most  suggestive  feature-  of  this  international  situation.  We 
are,  I  repeat,  under  constraint  by  our  interests  to  allow  both 
principal  and  accruing  interest  to  remain  in  the  debtor  coun- 
tries. Think  of  just  what  that  means :  it  means  that  this  capi- 
tal, instead  of  being  passed  over  to  us,  will  remain  in  use  in  these 
debtor  countries.  It  will  be  used  to  finance  their  business,  to 
enlarge  their  industries,  and  to  give  employment  to  their  people. 
It  will  contribute  to  the  strength  of  their  banks,  it  will  build 
up  their  foreign  trade  ;  and  if  we  want  to  take  the  narrow  view 
of  it,  we  may  say  that  this  capital  of  ours  in  their  hands  will 
help  to  strengthen  them  as  competitors  of  ours  in  world  affairs. 
And  yet  it  will  be  to  our  advantage  to  do  it.  We  shall  suffer  if 
we  fail  to  do  it.  In  order  to  serve  our  own  interests  we  must 
serve  the  common  interests,  and  that  principle  holds  throughout 
the  business  world.  That  Europe  shall  not  pay  her  debts  to  us 
under  present  conditions  is  fixed  in  the  very  constitution  of 
things,  in  the  framework  of  economic  relations.  I  doubt  if  she 
ever  does  pay  in  the  sense  of  sending  goods  or  gold  to  this 
country.    Not  if  we  remain  a  creditor  nation.    We  shall  have 


72      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

interests  over  there,  we  shall  have  paper  certificates  of  obliga- 
tion or  perhaps  of  ownership  in  properties  over  there ;  but  if 
we  continue  to  take  interest  or  dividends  in  the  form  of  new 
certificates  we  shall  withdraw  nothing.  A  creditor  nation,  in- 
creasing in  wealth,  is  always  adding  to  the  holdings  of  its  tin 
boxes.  What  difference  does  it  make  to  the  debtor  nations  so 
long  as  they  have  all  the  property  and  all 'the  increment  from 
the  property  ?  Generations  may  come  and  go,  enjoying  a  con- 
stantly increasing  stream  of  products  from  these  properties 
and  never  knowing  that  they  are  in  debt.  So  little  do  certifi- 
cates of  ownership  really  count  in  the  distribution  of  consum- 
able wealth. 

To  illustrate :  Let  us  suppose  a  case  within  our  own  country. 
Let  us  suppose  that  a  resident  of  New  York  makes  an  invest- 
ment in  Montana.  ^Montana  is  not  a  foreign  country,  but  it  is 
as  far  away  as  a  foreign  country,  and  economic  laws  are  the 
same  everywhere.  We  will  suppose  a  resident  of  New  York 
makes  an  investment  in  ^Montana  in  a  mining  or  manufacturing 
enterprise.  The  business  is  successful,  but  as  the  owner  has  all 
the  income  he  requires  for  personal  expenditures  from  other 
sources,  he  draws  nothing  from  it.  All  the  profits  are  retained 
in  the  business  for  development  purposes.  The  plant  is  en- 
larged ;  the  product  is  increased.  The  product  has  a  ready 
market ;  it  meets  a  common  need ;  the  public  is  served  by  the 
increased  production.  The  pay  roll  grows  larger.  A  town 
grows  up  about  the  works  ;  it  grows  into  a  city,  with  stores, 
schools,  churches,  libraries,  theaters,  street  railways,  and  all  the 
facilities,  equipment,  and  conveniences  of  city  life.  It  is  a  pros- 
perous, progressive  community.  Finally,  the  owner  dies,  never 
having  drawn  a  dollar  from  the  ^Montana  property.  Query : 
Who  has  had  the  benefits  of  the  investment  in  Montana  ?  You 
may  say  that  somebody  will  inherit  the  property,  but  that  does 
not  alter  the  principle  that  so  long  as  the  increment  is  rein- 
vested productively  the  benefits  are  running  to  the  public  and 
not  to  the  owner. 

An  instance  quite  similar  in  some  respects  to  this  supposed 
case  developed  the  other  day,  when  Captain  Joseph  Delamar, 
whose  wealth  was  largely  in  Western  mines,  died  and  left 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  73 

$10,000,000  worth  of  securities  to  the  endowment  funds  of 
Columbia,  Harvard,  and  Johns  Hopkins  universities.  That 
case  is  closed  with  the  accumulations  definitely  dedicated  to 
the  public. 

In  the  case  of  a  creditor  country,  of  course,  individuals  re- 
ceive their  incomes  from  foreign  investments,  but  the  aggregate 
of  foreign,  investments  will  naturally  continue  to  increase  so 
long  as  the  state  of  industry  and  the  exchanges  makes  it 
mutually  advantageous.  There  is  a  tendency  for  investment 
capital  to  flow  to  the  places  where  it  is  most  needed,  as  there  is 
for  commodities  to  flow  to  places  where  they  are  scarce  and  in 
demand.  A  mutual  interest  is  served.  There  is  a  tendency  to 
level  conditions  throughout  countries  which  are  in  contact, 
bringing  up  those  which  are  behind.  The  effectiveness,  the 
marginal  utility,  of  capital  is  greater  in  a  country  where  capital 
is  relatively  scarce.  The  part  which  a  creditor  country  plays 
is  not  a  bloodsucking,  exploiting  part,  as  sometimes  represented, 
but  a  helpful,  constructive  part,  even  benevolent  in  the  sense 
that  the  immediate  benefits  are  likely  to  be  on  the  side 
of  the  borrowing  country.  In  a  free,  peaceful  state  of 
world  affairs  I  do  not  know  how  one  nation  can  be  exploited  by 
another.  When  I  was  a  boy  in  the  Middle  West  it  used  to  be 
said  that  that  section  of  this  country  was  exploited  by  the  East, 
but  the  development  of  the  West  was  greatly  aided  by  Eastern 
capital,  and  there  is  more  Eastern  capital  in  the  West  now 
than  ever  before.  If  conditions  in  Mexico  were  as  favorable  to 
the  employment  of  capital  there  as  on  this  side  of  the  line, 
there  would  be  a  great  flow  of  capital  into  Mexico  and  quick 
leveling-  of  living  conditions  there  to  what  they  are  in  this 
country.  And,  finally,  the  development  of  Mexico  and  of  her 
now  idle  resources  would  react  beneficially  upon  this  country. 

The  fundamental  fact  in  world  relationships  and  in  all 
economic  relationships  is  this  mutuality  of  interests.  Unfor- 
tunately there  is  only  a  faint  comprehension  of  it,  and  because 
this  is  so  we  have  a  world  of  rivalries  and  antagonisms  which 
naturally  break  out  from  time  to  time  in  war.  The  responsibil- 
ity for  war  does  not  lie  wholly  with  the  nation  which  fires  the 
first  gun.    The  spirit  of  war  is  developed  in  mistaken  ideas 


74  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

about  national  interests.  If  nations  believe  that  their  funda- 
mental interests  are  in  confiictj  that  there  is  an  irreconcilable 
rivalry  and  struggle  for  existence ;  if  people  believe  that  the 
future  of  their  country  or  of  their  children  is  at  stake, —  of 
course  they  will  fight ;  war  is  inevitable.  Nothing  else  is  to 
be  expected. 

I  do  not  like  the  language  of  warfare  in  description  of  trade 
rivalries.  There  are  trade  rivalries  ;  they  are  necessary,  legiti- 
mate, and,  if  conducted  in  the  proper  spirit,  stimulating  and 
wholesome.  But  it  is  a  mistake  to  emphasize  them  as  though 
the  success  of  one  nation  depended  upon  driving  another  out 
of  the  field.  That  idea  is  based  upon  the  assumption  that  there 
is  only  a  limited  amount  of  business  to  be  done  and  never 
enough  for  all  —  an  error  responsible  for  infinite  mischief. 

It  is  the  chief  grievance  alleged  against  the  labor  organiza- 
tions that  they  sometimes  limit  the  output,  acting  upon  the 
theory  that  there  is  only  a  limited  amount  of  work  to  be  done, 
and  that  it  is  to  their  interest  to  make  it  go  as  far  and  pay  as 
much  in  wages  as  possible.  Every  such  conception  of  industry 
and  business  is  fundamentally  wrong.  There  is  no  limit  to  the 
amount  of  work  to  be  done  or  the  amount  of  business  to  be 
had,  because  there  is  no  limit  to  the  amount  of  wealth  that  may 
be  created  from  the  resources  of  nature,  or  to  the  consumptive 
demands  of  the  world's  level  of  comfort  above  that  of  any  other 
people  in  the  world,  and  yet  the  average  family  in  this  country 
lives  far  below  the  level  of  its  wants  and  its  commendable 
aspirations.  In  this  day  of  free  schools,  of  cheap  printing,  of 
democratic  ideas,  the  wants  of  the  people  develop  faster  than 
their  ability  to  supply  them,  and  hence  we  have  a  growing  dis- 
content which  threatens  the  very  foundations  of  the  social 
order.  The  spirit  which  finds  its  blind  expression  in  Bolshe- 
vism has  its  inception  in  the  desire  for  better  living  conditions, 
and  it  is  an  affront  to  that  spirit — and  an  affront  to  common 
sense — to  conduct  the  international  policies  of  nations  upon 
the  theory  that  the  chief  danger  to  be  averted  is  that  of  over- 
production. Such  an  argument  amounts  to  a  confession  of  in- 
effectiveness or  nonachievement  in  the  industrial  management  of 
the  world  and  affords  a  basis  for  challenging  the  existing  order. 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  75 

But  it  is  one  thing  to  be  critical  and  anotiier  thing  to  be  con- 
structive, and  the  critics  of  the  existing  order,  where  they  get  a 
chance,  display  a  greater  incompetency.  The  condition  of  the 
masses  will  never  be  improved  by  paralyzing  industry  in  efforts 
to  divide  the  existing  stock  of  wealth.  The  existing  stock  in 
itself  is  of  small  importance ;  it  is  the  constant  and  efficient 
employment  of  all  the  agencies  of  production,  and  the  regular 
and  increasing  flow  of  goods  to  the  market^  which  concerns  the 
public.  The  problem  of  society  everywhere  is  to  organize  more 
effectively — to  coordinate,  integrate,  and  balance — production 
in  all  branches  to  obtain  the  greatest  possible  output  of  the 
things  which  minister  to  the  common  comfort  and  welfare,  and 
to  secure  by  exchange  of  products  and  services  their  wide- 
spread distribution  and  consumption.  This  is  the  great  appeal 
to  the  enlightened  and  constructive  forces  of  the  world. 

The  United  States,  as  a  creditor  nation,  by  the  very  logic  of 
its  position  and  for  the  maintenance  of  its  leadership,  will  be 
obliged  to  use  its  strength  for  the  upbuilding  of  other  countries. 
It  has  the  opportunity,  the  resources,  the  industrial  equipment 
and  organization,  to  play  a  great  part  in  the  reconstruction  and 
progress  of  the  world.  The  only  question  is.  How  is  the  world 
to  pay  for  the  things  it  would  be  glad  to  buy  ?  We  can  have 
any  amount  of  business  from  Russia,  from  Asia,  from  South 
America,  and  from  Europe  upon  condition  that  we  finance  the 
purchases,  giving  them  a  chance  to  pay  out  of  the  benefits  which 
are  created. 

When  one  sees  the  opportunities  that  are  waiting  for  capital 
everywhere,  and  the  benefits  that  would  result  if  they  could 
be  improved,  he  is  prompted  to  think  that  this  country  ought 
to  be  willing  to  go  on  siege  rations,  with  meat  days,  bread  cards, 
and  milk  tickets,  and  voluntarily  economize  and  devote  its  sav- 
ings and  its  industrial  equipment  to  increasing  the  productive 
capacity  of  the  world  and  thus  ameliorating  conditions  in  this 
great  emergency. 

No  group  of  business  men  in  this  country  is  more  directly 
interested  in  this  situation  than  the  Investment  Bankers.  It  >s 
your  business  to  popularize  the  fundamental  virtues  of  thrift 
and  economy,  to  teach  the  social  service  that  is  performed  in 


76  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

saving  for  investment,  and  to  gather  up  the' capital  which  is 
required  for  industrial  development.  There  is  no  adequate 
comprehension  in  the  public  mind  of  the  part  which  capital 
plays  in  social  progress,  or  of  the  obligations  of  our  new  posi- 
tion. It  is  for  you  to  assume  leadership  in  a  campaign  of 
education. 


OUR  NEW  MERCHANT  MARINE  ^ 
Ralph  D.  Paine 

[Ralph  Delahaye  Paine  (1871-  )  was  educated  at  Yale  Col- 
lege and  is  today  one  of  the  best  American  writers  of  the  sea  and 
of  the  ships  that  ride  upon  the  sea.  He  was  a  war  correspondent 
during  the  Cuban  Rebellion,  the  Spanish-American  War,  the  Boxer 
uprising  in  China,  and  a  special  correspondent  in  England  during 
the  Boer  War.  He  was  attached  to  the  New  York  Herald  in  igo2 
and  was  associate  editor  of  the  Outing  Magazine  in  1906.  Among 
his  best-known  books  are  ''The  Praying  Skipper  and  Other  Stories/' 
"The  Romance  of  the  Old-Time  Shipmaster,"  "The  Judgments  of 
the  Sea,"  "The  Wrecking  Master,"  and  "The  Ships  and  Sailors  of 
Old  Salem."  The  article  below  is  from  one  of  a  series  pubhshed  in 
the  World's  Work  in  the  spring  of  1920.] 

Long  ago  a  wise  man  wrote,  "With  the  single  exception  of 
the  soil,  ships  are  the  noblest  property  which  any  country  can 
possess,  being  machines  of  national  defense  as  well  as  instru- 
ments of  wealth  for  individuals."  Such  was  the  national  belief 
during  a  bygone  era  of  achievement  so  brilliant  that  American 
ships  and  sailors  were  unsurpassed  wherever  the  trade  winds 
blew.  For  almost  a  century  they  were  a  dominant  asset  of  the 
common  welfare  in  war  and  peace.  Then  they  ceased  to  attract 
the  energy  and  enterprise  of  their  people  and  vanished  from 
blue  water,  so  that  instead  of  the  tiers  of  shapely  hulls  in  every 
foreign  port  one  might  wander  around  the  globe  without  a 
glimpse  of  his  own  flag.  To  three  generations  the  maritime  pres- 
tige of  the  United  States  has  been  a  shadowy  memory,  a  roman- 
tic tradition. 

1  Reprinted  with  the  courteous  permission  of  the  editors  of  the  World's 
Work.     Copyrighted. 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  77 

Foreign  liners  and  dingy  tramps — mostly  British,  German, 
and  Norwegian — filled  our  wharves  and  carried  90  per  cent  ot 
the  vast  export  and  import  trade  of  six  billion  dollars'  worth  of 
cargoes  a  year.  It  was  a  popular  opinion  that  if  these  nations 
could  back  their  ocean  delivery  wagons  up  to  our  doors  and 
haul  the  goods  away  at  cheaper  rates  than  American  ships 
could  afford  to  convey  them,  the  shrewd  policy  was  to  let  the 
foreigner  do  it.  The  basis  of  trade  was  dollars,  not  sentiment, 
English  yards  were  building  vessels  at  40  per  cent  lower  cost, 
and  the  owners  were  operating  them  with  a  similar  advantage 
of  expense.  American  shipyards  were  kept  alive  by  naval  con- 
tracts and  by  the  splendid  coastwise  and  Great  Lakes  traffic 
of  six  million  tons,  which  had  demonstrated  that  capital  would 
seek  investment  in  shipping  if  given  a  fair  chance  of  survival. 
In  a  few  modern  yards  of  the  Atlantic  coast  the  hopes  and 
dividends  were  both  deferred.  There  was  to  be  found  in  them  a 
spirit  which  Homer  L.  Ferguson,  president  of  the  Newport 
News  Company,  explains  in  this  wise : 

Shipbuilding  has  always  attracted  men  of  imagination  and  a  great 
many  men  with  money,  but  most  of  us  who  have  gone  into  it  have  not 
made  much  money,  and  I  think  that  most  of  us  could  have  made  a 
better  living  doing  something  else.  But  when  a  man  once  gets  into 
his  blood  this  thing  they  call  the  sea,  he  simply  harks  back  to  it  and 
wants  to  go  and  paddle  around  salt  water  and  be  around  a  shipyard, 
and  get  up  every  morning  and  look  it  over. 

Attempts  to  revive  a  merchant  marine  by  means  of  legislation 
were  thwarted  by  indifference,  or  ignorance,  or  hostility  toward 
giving  ships  the  same  kind  of  protection  against  foreign  compe- 
tition which  was  freely  granted  to  other  manufactured  products. 
The  roots  of  this  feeling  ran  deep  into  sectional  disagreements 
of  the  past,  from  the  early  days  of  the  Republic,  and  the  phrase 
"ship  subsidy"  was  a  red  rag  of  provocation.  The  probleni 
was  argued  in  terms  political  rather  than  economic. 

There  were  brave  and  futile  efforts  to  rekindle  interest  in  the 
sea  as  an  American  heritage, —  a  few  large  steamers  built  for 
foreign  trade,  stirring  orations  in  Congress,  perennial  investiga- 
tions and  reports,  now  and  then  a  timidly  constructive  law, — but 
away  from  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  seaboards  nobody  really 


78  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

cared.  The  "grandest,  richest,  bravest  nation  on  earth"  was 
getting  on  very  well  without  ships  and  had  better  uses  for  its 
surplus  cash.  Why  worry  ?  That  inland  empire  known  as  the 
Middle  West,  whose  opinions  are  listened  to  with  such  respect- 
ful consideration^  particularly  at  the  ballot  box,  was  apt  to  re- 
gard a  merchant  marine  as  the  chronic  obsession  of  a  certain 
class  of  New  Englanders  whose  fathers  had  made  fortunes  in 
the  East  India  trade  and  whose  faces  were  turned  backward. 
All  national  impulses  stopped  short  at  the  water's  edge. 

It  had  become  impossible  to  realize  what  the  fleets  of  tall 
ships  meant  to  the  country  in  the  golden  age  of  its  sea-borne 
commerce, —  that  in  1825  they  had  carried  89  per  cent  of  its  ex- 
ports and  95  per  cent  of  its  imports,  confounding  the  dictum 
that  Britannia  ruled  the  waves.  At  the  end  and  climax  of  this 
salt}'^  epoch,  in  1861,  the  Yankee  ships  were  transporting  60 
per  cent  of  the  exports  and  still  holding  an  invaluable  suprem- 
acy. This  magnificent  fleet  of  ours  steadily  dwindled,  until  in 
19 14  there  was  only  a  ton  of  American  shipping  in  trade  over- 
seas for  every  seventeen  tons  that  flew  the  "red  duster"  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  for  the  greater  part  of  our  tonnage  was  on 
the  Great  Lakes  and  in  our  own  coastwise  trade,  from  which 
foreign  ships  are  excluded. 

Long  before  the  ships  forsook  the  sea  American  manhood  had 
almost  ceased  to  follow  it  as  a  career.  The  life  was  intolerable 
to  ambitious  youth^  which  found  far  greater  opportunity  ashore. 
Centuries  of  crude  tradition  had  decreed  that  a  sailor  should  be 
underpaid,  underfed,  and  grievously  mishandled.  Afloat  and 
ashore  his  existence  was  wretched  and  he  lived  apart  from  other 
kinds  of  human  beings.  His  wages  were  a  pittance,  and  even 
when  promoted  from  forecastle  to  cabin  the  rewards  were 
beggarly  in  modern  times,  yet  always  his  courage  and  his  hardi- 
hood were  superb.  The  American  youngster  sensibly  relin- 
quished the  calling  to  the  foreign  seaman,  who  signed  on  for 
eighteen  dollars  a  month,  and  the  skipper  of  the  British  tramp, 
who  sailed  for  seventy-five  dollars.  As  far  distant  as  the  great 
days  of  the  Atlantic  packets  and  the  Cape  Horn  clippers  Yankee 
masters  trod  quarterdecks,  but  the  Liverpool  "dock  rat"  and 
the  Scandinavian  "  squarehead"  sailed  before  the  mast. 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  79 

This,  in  a  word,  was  the  situation  when  the  fateful  year  of 
191 7  suddenly  convinced  the  nation,  to  its  farthest  farm  and 
village,  that  ships^  hundreds  and  thousands  of  them,  were  vital 
to  its  safety  and  to  the  salvation  of  the  world.  The  foreign 
vessels  which  had  so  conveniently  and  cheaply  served  our  uses 
in  time  of  peace  were  otherwise  engaged.  It  was  also  compre- 
hended that  a  merchant  marine  is  the  right  arm  of  the  navy 
when  the  crisis  comes.  The  battle  front  was  three  thousand 
wet  miles  away,  but  Columbia  was  no  longer  the  gem  of  the 
ocean.  And  German  submarines  were  sinking  and  disabling 
the  rest  of  the  world's  tonnage  at  the  rate  of  a  million  tons 
a  month. 

Then  began  the  huge,  convulsive  effort  to  build  and  launch 
ships  by  a  people  who  had  forgotten  the  sea  and  the  mastery 
of  it.  In  the  desperate  race  against  time,  money  was  no  con- 
sequence. In  normal  times  American  yards  had  been  glad  to 
build  fine  steel  steamers  at  $50  a  ton,  and  there  were  no  better 
ships  in  the  world.  The  war  cost  soared  as  high  as  S300  a 
ton  and  was  seldom  lower  than  $225.  The  entire  merchant 
fleet  of  England  cost  no  more  than  a  billion  dollars,  before  the 
war,  and  the  United  States  has  paid  four  billions  to  create  a 
fleet  of  less  tonnage  and  of  inferior  capacity  and  usefulness. 
The  waste,  the  blunders,  the  delays,  were  inevitable.  They 
were  the  price  of  unreadiness^  of  the  imperative  necessities  of 
the  hour.  Not  foreign  commerce  but  "the  bridge  of  ships" 
was  the  ruling  motive. 

Four  hundred  thousand  men  were  coaxed  and  drafted  to  work 
in  shipyards,  and  most  of  them  were  greenhorns  at  the  trade. 
Shops  and  launching  ways  and  scaffoldings  sprang  up  like 
mushrooms,  until  two  hundred  plants  were  contracting  to  lay 
keels.  Steel  ships,  big  and  little,  wooden  ships,  fabricated  ships, 
concrete  ships, —  anything  that  would  steam  and  carry  cargo, — 
three  thousand  of  them  to  be  hurled  together  to  transport  and 
supply,  if  need  be,  five  million  soldiers  beyond  the  Atlantic. 
It  was  undertaken  in  the  spirit  of  Charles  M.  Schwab  when  he 
told  President  Wilson,  "We're  going  to  get  you  into  a  lot  of 
trouble,  and  probably  I'm  going  to  make  a  lot  of  mistakes,  but, 
damn  it,  I'm  going  to  get  you  ships,"  ,  .  . 


8o  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

Of  this  prodigious  activity  and  expenditure  there  was  left 
intact  and  operating  the  new  merchant  marine.  In  this  respect 
it  was  unique  at  home  and  abroad,  a  national  instrument  con- 
trived solely  to  win  battles  and  yet  with  untold  potentialities 
for  peace.  It  survived  because  of  its  own  momentum  when  all 
else  of  war  dissolved  like  the  fabric  of  a  dream.  For  the  gov- 
ernment to  finish  the  ships  and  manage  or  sell  them  was  better 
business  than  to  wreck  the  intricate  and  far-flung  organization 
of  men,  material,  and  equipment  and  pay  adequate  compensa- 
tion. The  powers  granted  by  Congress  had  anticipated  such 
a  situation,  and  the  enormous  amounts  of  money  required  by 
the  Shipping  Board — a  total  of  S3, 67 1,000,000 — were  readily 
authorized  as  reflecting  the  general  desire  of  the  country  that 
all  the  trumpeted  boasts,  predictions^  and  preliminary  outlay 
should  result  in  something  better  than  a  sorry  anticlimax.  .  .  . 
The  renown  of  the  old  merchant  marine  was  won  by  wooden 
ships,  but  out  of  the  demands  of  the  war  has  come  another  typfe 
of  ship  of  the  Gulf  and  the  Pacific  coast,  the  large  bark  or 
schooner  with  the  gasoline  or  oil  motor  to  help  shove  her  along, 
so  that  the  days  of  "iron  men  in  wooden  ships"  and  gleaming 
canvas  will  survive  in  the  new  merchant  marine. 

It  is  very  generally  assumed  that  the  steel  ships  smaller  than 
4500  tons  cannot  profitably  compete  in  overseas  trade,  and  that 
it  is  advisable  to  sell  them  in  the  open  market  to  American 
and  foreign  buyers.  The  offshore  fleet  is  thus  reduced  to  some- 
thing less  than  one  thousand  large^  new  steel  steamers,  all  of 
which  meet  the  highest  requirements  of  Lloyd  surveyors  and 
the  American  Bureau  of  Shipping's  classification.  These,  to- 
gether with  the  requisitioned  tonnage  returned  to  private 
owners,  and  the  passenger  and  the  cargo  boats  of  German  and 
Austrian  parentage,  give  the  United  States  8,000,000  gross 
tons  of  deep-sea  tonnage  in  the  year  1920.  It  is  a  commercial 
armada  second  only  to  England's.  Including  all  classes  of 
tonnage  it  is  greater  than  the  combined  merchant  fleets  of  any 
other  ten  nations,  England  excepted. 

The  ships  have  been  set  at  work  as  fast  as  they  have  been 
commissioned.  Already  they  have  restored  an  economic  condi- 
tion unknown  since  i860,  in  that  50  per  cent  of  our  imports 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  8 1 

and  34  per  cent  of  our  exports  are  actually  moving  under  the 
American  flag,  and  the  total  value  of  the  foreign  trade  in  19 19 
was  $12,000,000,000.  The  Shipping  Board  has  assigned,  or 
"allocated,"  steamers  to  three  hundred  different  owners  or 
companies,  who  operated  them  as  managers  or  agents  for  fixed 
fees  and  commissions,  the  government  paying  all  expenses  and 
taking  the  profits.  Surprising  as  it  may  sound,  the  profits 
have  been  large,  although  another  purpose,  and  a  very  wise 
one,  was  to  develop  trade  routes  and  to  spread  a  knowledge  of 
and  increase  the  interest  in  shipping  and  foreign  trade  among 
the  American  people. 

These  companies — and  most  of  them  are  new  to  the  game 
—  are  sending  ships  deep  laden  to  South  America,  to  Africa, 
to  the  Black  Sea,  on  the  long  road  across  the  Pacific,  to  the 
crowded  ports  of  Europe,  to  marts  and  roadsteads  long  un- 
familiar, where  the  little  ships  of  Salem  showed  the  way  a 
hundred  years  ago.  .  .  .  Our  merchant  marine  is  no  longer  a 
dream  of  Edwin  N.  Hurley  or  emblazoned  on  war  posters.  It 
has  arrived,  and  is  doing  business  on  fifty  foreign  routes,  with 
more  ships  awaited  as  fast  as  they  slip  from  the  launching  ways 
and  are  fitted  out  in  the  wet  basin. 


THE  DEMOCRATIC  CONTROL  OF  THE  RAILROADS' 
Frederic  C.  Howe 

[Frederic  C.  Howe  (1867-  )  was  educated  at  Allegheny  Col- 
lege and  at  Johns  Hopkins.  After  practicing  law  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  for  some  years,  he  became  director  of  the  People's  Institute  in 
New  York  City  and  later  Commissioner  of  Immigration  at  Ellis 
Island.  He  has  written  extensively  on  municipal  administration  and 
taxation  and  on  the  problems  of  government  ownership.] 

I  wonder  ...  if  government  operation  of  the  railroads  is  as 
bad  as  we  are  led  to  believe.  The  statistics  show  that  the  num- 
ber of  people  killed  and  injured  under  Federal  control  is  very 

1  From  Proceedings  of  the  Academy  of  Political  Science,  Vol.  VIII. 
No.  4,  January,  1920.    Reprinted  by  permission. 


82      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

much  less  than  it  was  under  private  control.  That  is  a  gain. 
We  are  led  to  believe  that  the  railroads,  under  government  oper- 
ation, have  been  building  up  a  continuous  deficit.  That  point 
is  much  emphasized  ;  but  beginning  in  July  the  railroads  turned 
the  corner,  as  soon  as  anyone  had  a  right  to  expect  them  to. 
They  paid  the  standard  return^  operating  expenses,  and  every- 
thing else.  In  August  the  surplus  was  812,000,000,  and  in  Sep- 
tember it  was  $19,000,000.  Why  did  they  not  earn  a  surplus 
in  the  previous  two  years  ?  Because  the  railroads  during  those 
years  were  run  for  winning  the  war,  and  Secretary  IMcAdoo 
ran  his  trains  filled  with  goods  to  the  seaboard,  and  ran  them 
back  empty  in  order  to  get  more  goods.  No  one  expected 
any  agency  during  the  war  to  do  anything  else  but  win  the  war. 
Then  there  was  a  period  after  that  in  which  everything  was 
disorganized.  In  some  industries  there  were  surpluses,  and  in 
others  which  had  not  yet  begun  to  function  normally  there  was 
a  continuing  deficit.  The  wage  roll  of  the  railroads  was  piled 
up  over  nine  hundred  million  dollars  under  government  opera- 
tion. Does  anyone  suppose  there  would  have  been  no  increase 
in  wages  under  private  control  ?  They  might  have  been  less, 
they  might  have  been  greater  ;  no  one  can  tell.  But  in  connec- 
tion with  that  nine  hundred  million  which  we  hear  so  much 
about,  we  do  not  hear  that  there  were  145,000  employees  put 
on  for  the  purpose  of  speeding  up  war  production. 

Weeks  before  the  government  took  the  railroads  over,  there 
was  no  freight  moving,  as  I  recall  it.  Little,  if  anything,  moved 
in  New  England,  and  scarcely  anything  out  of  Pennsylvania  and 
the  West.  Within  three  weeks  after  the  government  took  them 
over,  something  happened  to  that  congestion.  Freight  again 
began  to  move,  and  it  has  been  moving  ever  since.  The  months 
before  the  war — I  am  a  commuter,  and  I  know — there  was 
scarcely  a  month,  sometimes  scarcely  a  week,  when  the  New 
York  dailies  did  not  carry  a  headline  of  a  smash  on  the  New 
Haven.  There  have  been  no  such  headlines  that  I  recall  since 
the  government  took  over  the  railroads.  The  other  day  I  read, 
in  the  report  of  the  regional  directors  who  are  actually  operat- 
ing the  railroads,  of  the  economies  they  had  effected — not 
waste.   We  assume  these  men  have  been  wasters,  but  the 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  83 

economies  due  merely  to  the  better  utilization  of  the  ph\'sical 
properties  totaled  over  two  hundred  million  dollars,  and  that 
did  not  include  the  ten  or  twelve  million  from  reduction  in 
salaries,  and  many,  many  millions  from  other  things.  These 
economies  may  or  may  not  have  been  wise.  I  merely  mention 
them  to  suggest  that  government  officials  do  not  consciously  and 
intentionally,  apparently,  waste  money.  They  are  not  wasters. 
Not  only  is  this  true  but  the  railroads  have  been  out  of 
politics — out  of  politics,  I  mean,  in  the  big  way.  ^Managers 
were  able  to  devote  themselves  to  railroading.  They  were 
interested,  or  they  should  have  been  interested,  in  making 
transportation  efficient.  And  a  large  number  of  men  found  a 
new  satisfaction,  a  new  joy,  in  operating  the  railroads  as  rail- 
roads rather  than  as  financial,  speculative,  monopoly  interests 
that  existed  and  maintained  their  power  through  continued  in- 
terference with  our  political  life.  In  addition,  all  shippers  had 
a  fair  deal.  They  were  able  to  get  a  hearing.  Independent 
coal  operators  found  it  easy  to  secure  cars.  The  same  is  true 
of  shippers  of  food  products.  The  freight  car  had  no  particu- 
lar home.  It  was  sent  anywhere.  The  same  was  true  of  mo- 
tive power.  Freight  cars  were  loaded  more  nearly  to  their 
total  capacity,  as  were  freight  and  passenger  trains.  Hundreds 
of  needless  competitive  passenger  trains  were  eliminated.  The 
best  roads  were  used  for  hauling  freight,  while  other  roads  were 
used  for  hauling  empties.  Long,  circuitous  hauls  were  elimi- 
nated. Goods  were  routed  by  the  most  direct  way  possible. 
Terminals  were  consolidated.  They  too  were  used  efficiently. 
Thousands  of  passenger  offices  were  eliminated,  as  were  hun- 
dreds of  needless  officials.  And  only  a  beginning  has  been  made 
in  economies  of  this  sort.  For  it  was  necessary  to  maintain  the 
integrity  of  the  private  lines  in  view  of  their  probable  return  to 
their  owners.  No  one  can  yet  estimate  the  economies  that 
could  ultimately  be  made  if  the  government  definitely  merged 
the  250,000  miles  of  railways  into  a  single  operating  system. 


84  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

GOVERNMENT  OWNERSHIP  VS.  PRIVATE  CONTROL  > 
Samuel  O.  Dunn 

[Samuel  Orace  Dunn  (1877-  )  is  a  writer  and  lecturer  on 
transportation  subjects  and  a  specialist  on  railroad  matters.  He  was 
born  in  Iowa,  was  educated  in  Kansas,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  the  state  of  Illinois.  He  was  editor  of  various  Middle-Western 
papers  until  1904,  when  he  became  for  three  years  the  railroad  editor 
of  the  Chicago  Tribune.  He  was  managing  editor  of  the  Railway 
Age  from  1907  to  1908  and  has  been  editor  of  the  Railway  Age 
Gazette  since  1908.  He  is  the  author  of  "The  American  Transpor- 
tation Question,"  "Government  Ownership  of  the  Railroads,"  and 
"Railway  Regulation  or  Ownership?"  The  selections  below  are  from 
two  articles  entitled  "Some  Political  Phases  of  Government  Own- 
ership," which  appeared  in  Volume  CXV  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly, 
and  from  a  recent  discussion  on  "Railway  Efficiency"  to  which 
tke  author  contributed.] 

A.   The  Fundamental  Defect  of  Government 
Ownership 

The  fundamental  trouble  with  government  ownership  is  that 
it  reverses  a  tendency  which  has  marked  the  progress  of  mod- 
ern civilization  and  has  contributed  greatly  toward  promoting 
it — the  tendency  toward  differentiation  of  political  and  eco- 
nomic functions.  Under  the  patriarchal  system  all  political, 
social,  and  economic  functions  were  concentrated  in  the  patri- 
arch. He  was  the  head  of  the  family,  captain  of  industry,  mili- 
tary commander,  chief  priest,  king.  Even  under  feudalism 
varied  and  numerous  functions  and  powers  were  united  in  the 
baron.  His  economic  power  and  his  military  and  political 
authority  were  coextensive.  His  retainers  were  forced  to  fight 
for  him  in  order  to  keep  their  right  to  exact  a  living  from  the 
soil ;  they  had  to  cultivate  his  land  to  secure  from  him  protec- 
tion from  the  attacks  of  others  and  to  obtain  justice  in  his 
court ;  and  it  was  from  these  conditions  that  the  evils  of  the 
feudal   system  chiefly  arose.    The  king  was,   politically   and 

^Reprinted  through  the  courtesy  of  the  Annals  of  the  American  .Acad- 
emy of  Political  and  Social  Science  editors  and  the  Atlantic  Monthly 
Publishing  Company. 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  85 

economically,  merely  a  greater  feudal  baron.  From  the  Middle 
Ages  to  the  present  time  the  differentiation  of  these  various 
functions,  while  often  retarded,  has  never  ceased. 

Most  important  of  all,  perhaps,  has  been  the  segregation  of 
the  political  function  of  ruling  from  the  economic  function 
of  directing  industry.  The  doctrine  of  laissez  faire,  so  ardently 
preached  a  century  ago,  was  little  more  than  the  doctrine  that 
the  function  of  ruling — that  is  to  say  of  maintaining  peace 
and  order — and  the  function  of  managing  industry  should  be 
kept  separate,  and  especially  that  the  former  should  not  need- 
lessly  interfere  with  the  latter. 

Doubtless  for  a  time  laissez  faire  was  carried  too  far  in  both 
theory  and  practice.  But  it  is  notable  that  it  was  during  this 
time  that  the  greatest  impetus  was  given  to  the  development  of 
political  freedom,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  industry,  on  the 
other. 

Government  ownership  is  a  movement  backward  because  it 
would  reconsolidate  political  and  economic  functions.  There 
must  be  some  sovereign  power.  This  power  must  be  the  politi- 
cal power.  And  by  appropriate  means  and  tribunals  the  politi- 
cal power  should  so  control  the  management  of  industry  as  to 
prevent  and  correct  abuses  not  prevented  or  corrected  by 
economic  law.  But  it  does  not  follow  that  the  sovereign  politi- 
cal power  should  itself  assume  the  exercise  of  gigantic  economic 
functions. 

The  modern  industrial  system  has  sometimes  been  likened 
to  the  feudal  system  because  great  captains  of  industry  have 
sometimes  used  their  money,  and  the  votes  it  has  enabled 
them  to  command,  to  dominate  and  corrupt  the  politics  of  cities, 
states,  and  the  nation.  When  this  condition  has  existed,  how- 
ever, the  real  vice  in  it,  as  under  the  feudal  system,  has  con- 
sisted in  the  union  of  political  and  economic  power  in  the 
same  hands.  Those  possessing  the  two  kinds  of  power  have 
been  able  to  use  their  economic  power  to  attain  their  political 
ends,  and  their  political  power  to  attain  their  economic  ends ; 
and  both  politics  and  legitimate  business  have  suffered. 

Public  ownership  often  is  advocated  as  the  only  effective 
means  of  destroying  the  corrupting  alliance  of  big  business  and 


86  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

politics.  But  already  the  two  great  movements  for  the  puri- 
fication of  politics  and  for  the  regulation  of  concerns  of  a 
monopolistic  or  quasimonopolistic  character  have  practically 
dissolved  this  alliance  and  are  raising  the  tone  of  politics  and 
reducing  the  abuses  in  business.  A  continuance  of  efforts  to 
purify  politics  and  improve  government^  and  to  use  the  power 
of  government  to  destroy  and  prevent  economic  and  social  evils, 
while  avoiding  placing  unnecessary  restrictions  and  burdens  on 
the  exercise  of  private  initiative  and  enterprise,  will  have  bene- 
ficial effects  on  both  politics  and  business.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  adoption  of  an  extensive  policy  of  government  ownership 
would  once  more  combine  great  political  power  and  great 
economic  power  in  the  same  hands. 

In  the  recent  past  this  power  has  been  combined  in  the 
hands  of  leaders  of  industry ;  under  government  ownership  it 
would  be  combined  in  the  hands  of  leaders  of  politics.  For 
government  management,  like  business  management,  is  always 
more  a  thing  of  men  than  of  machinery.  Men  always  have 
their  leaders  and  bosses,  whether  in  war,  or  business,  or  poli- 
tics ;  and  it  is  the  leaders  of  politics,  whether  statesmen  or 
bosses,  who  really  manage  the  government  and  who  under  pub- 
lic ownership  would  control  the  management  of  elections,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  of  government  industries,  on  the  other.  They 
would  then  exercise  a  total  power  incomparably  greater  than 
was  ever  exercised  by  any  body  of  men  in  this  country.  They 
would  have  the  same  political  power  of  the  ordinary  kind  that 
the  leaders  of  the  party  dominant  in  the  government  have  now. 
The  power  to  determine  what  rates  and  prices  should  be 
charged  by  concerns  earning  billions  of  dollars  annually  would 
be  a  great  power  ;  and  they  would  have  it.  The  power  to  make 
contracts  for  expenditures  that  amount  to  billions  annually 
would  be  a  great  power ;  and  they  would  have  it.  The  power 
to  determine  whether  millions  of  men  should  be  allowed  to 
keep  their  jobs  would  be  a  great  power ;  and  they  would  have 
it.  The  power  largely  to  determine  how  millions  of  men  would 
vote,  and  thereby  what  men  should  keep  or  lose  public  office, 
would  be  a  great  pov/er  ;  and  they  would  have  it.  And  these 
would  be  powers  which,  once  acquired,  might  be  transferred 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  87 

from  one  group  of  political  leaders  to  another,  but  which  could 
never  be  dissolved  into  their  elements  without  abolishing  gov- 
ernment ownership  itself ;  and  to  abolish  it  would  be  much 
more  difficult  than  to  adopt  it. 

Big  business  never  controlled  anywhere  near  as  many  voters 
as  it  is  proposed  to  take  into  the  government  service ;  yet  big 
business  has  managed  at  times  to  control  the  politics  of  cities, 
of  states,  and  of  the  nation.  In  politics,  as  in  war,  a  small, 
relatively  well-organized,  well-disciplined  force  is  more  power- 
ful than  a  far  larger  body  if  untrained  and  undisciplined. 

If  all  the  aspects  of  government  ownership  be  considered, 
the  conclusion  must  be  reached  that  its  extensive  adoption 
would  be  destructive  of  both  the  economic  and  the  political 
welfare  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  The  people  would 
find  that  they  had  created  an  economic  and  political  Franken- 
stein which  would  not  only  be  able  to  undermine  their  material 
well-being  and  destroy  their  free  political  institutions  but  which 
would  be  irresistibly  impelled  by  its  very  nature  to  accomplish 
this  work  of  ruin. 

B.   The  Management  of  Railroads  under  Private 
Control 

[Editors'  Note.  The  so-called  Plumb  Plan  here  referred  to 
is  named  after  Mr.  G.  E.  Plumb,  the  general  counsel  of  the  Rail- 
road Brotherhoods.  It  proposes  that  all  railroads  of  the  country 
shall  be  owned  by  the  United  States  government  and  shall  be  leased 
for  one  hundred  years  to  an  operating  company  composed  in  the 
main  of  the  railroad  employees  and  railroad  executives,  and  repre- 
sentatives of  the  public.  It  provides  for  the  complete  consolidation 
of  all  railroads  into  a  single  national  system  and  for  the  regula- 
tion of  all  railroad  rates  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
If  the  rates  fixed  by  the  Commission  do  not  produce  a  revenue 
sufficient  to  pay  expenses,  the  United  States  government  shall  pay 
the  deficit  from  the  United  States  Treasury ;  if  they  produce  a 
surplus,  it  shall  be  divided  equally  between  the  employees  and  the 
government.} 

It  is  claimed  that  the  railroads  under  private  management 
have  not  been  efficiently  operated,  and  that  in  order  that  they 
shall  be  efficiently  operated  their  ownership  must  be  transferred 


88      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

to  the  government  and  their  management  largely  transferred  to 
the  employees  under  some  such  scheme  as  the  Plumb  Plan, 

In  measuring  the  efficiency  with  which  an  individual  does  his 
work  or  a  management  conducts  a  concern  it  is  necessary  to 
apply  standards  of  some  kind.  Our  critic  says  that  "  the  notion 
that  our  railroads  in  the  past  have  been  highly  efficient  is 
fallacious"  and  that  "this  is  doubly  true  when  judged  from  the 
basis  of  real  standards  such  as  science  has  been  able  to  define 
in  the  last  ten  years."  Unfortunately  he  does  not  mention  any 
of  the  "real  standards"  to  which  he  refers,  and,  although  I 
have  been  a  constant  student  of  railroad  operations  and  the 
railroad  problem  for  many  years,  he  does  not  convey  to  me  any 
idea  of  what  standard  he  means. 

There  are,  however,  certain  standards  which  have  been  gen- 
erally applied  by  experts  in  measuring  the  efficiency  of  opera- 
tion of  different  railroad  systems,  and  I  maintain  that  the 
application  of  these  standards  shows,  first,  that  the  railroads  of 
the  United  States  under  private  management  were  as  efficiently 
operated  as  any  other  railroads  in  the  world,  and,  second, 
that  under  private  management  there  was  a  steady  and  rapid 
increase  in  the  efficiency  of  their  operation.  Nowhere  in  his 
paper  does  our  critic  cite  a  single  concrete  fact  in  support  of  his 
proposition  that  our  railroads  have  not  been  efficiently  man- 
aged. The  following  are  some  facts  which  may  be  cited  in  sup- 
port of  the  counterproposition  that  they  have  been  efficiently 
operated. 

They  have  developed  and  used  the  most  powerful  locomo- 
tives and  the  largest  freight  cars  in  the  world.  I  grant,  of 
course,  that  in  developing  them  they  have  been  helped  by  the 
railway  equipment  and  supply  companies. 

They  have  handled  more  tons  per  car  and  per  train  than 
any  other  railroads. 

They  have  paid  higher  wages  while  charging  lower  freight 
rates  than  any  other  large  system  of  railways. 

They  have  handled  more  traffic  in  proportion  to  their  capital 
investment — nominal  or  real — than  any  other  railways. 

They  have  handled  more  freight  traffic  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  their  employees  than  any  other  railways. 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  89 

Except  in  respect  to  the  matter  of  safety,  they  have  rendered 
as  good  freight  and  passenger  service  as  any  other  railways. 

Anybody  who  accepts  our  critic's  views  without  knowledge 
of  the  facts  regarding  the  way  in  which  our  railways  have  been 
managed  would  conclude  that  because  of  their  alleged  domina- 
tion by  a  few  great  financial  interests  the  managing  officers 
have  hardly  thought  of  anything  except  trying  to  please  and 
placate  their  financial  masters  in  Wall  Street.  Doubtless  this 
has  been  the  case  on  some  roads,  but  on  a  large  majority  of 
roads  it  has  not  been  the  case.  I  have  lived  for  many  years  in 
close  contact  with  the  operating  and  executive  officers  of  our 
railroads  throughout  the  United  States,  and  I  am  stating  what 
I  personally  know  to  be  a.  fact  when  I  say  that  very  much 
the  greater  part  of  their  thought  and  energy  has  been  devoted 
to  trying  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  operation  and  improve 
the  service  rendered  to  the  public.  The  results  of  their  efforts 
to  increase  efficiency  are  set  forth  in  the  statistics  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission,  where  every  man  can  ascertain 
them. 

Let  us  consider  just  a  few  of  these  statistics  for  the  years 
1906  to  1916.  I  stop  with  the  year  1916  because  in  191 7  ab- 
normal conditions  were  created  by  the  war.  In  the  year  19 16 
the  railways  had  1^654,075  employees.  The  average  compen- 
sation paid  to  them  was  S849,  an  increase  over  the  average 
compensation  paid  in  1906  of  $272,  or  47  per  cent.  A  very 
simple  computation  will  show  that  if  in  1916  the  railways  had 
paid  their  employees  the  same  average  wage  that  they  did  in 
1906,  the  total  wages  paid  in  19 16  would  have  been  $450,000,- 
000  less  than  they  actually  were.  In  other  words,  there  was 
an  increase  of  $450,000,000  a  year  in  the  pay  roll  in  these  ten 
years  which  was  due  to  advances  in  average  wage  per  em- 
ployee. During  the  decade  when  this  large  increase  in  wages 
was  occurring  there  was  no  advance  in  the  average  charge  for 
transportation  to  the  public.  The  average  receipts  per  passen- 
ger per  mile  increased  from  2.003  cents  in  1906  to  2.006  cents 
in  1916,  while  the  average  receipts  per  ton  per  mile  declined 
from  7.48  mills  to  7.16  mills.  The  facts  that  the  railroads  dur- 
ing this  period  made  advances  in  wages  of  $450,000,000  a  year, 


90      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

that  they  made  no  advances  in. rates,  and  that  nevertheless  they 
earned  about  the  same  percentage  of  return  in  191 6  as  in 
1906  indicate  that  there  must  have  been  a  substantial  increase 
in  efficiency  of  operation.  The  statistics  of  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  show  how  this  increase  of  efficiency  was  ob- 
tained. The  number  of  tons  per  loaded  car  increased  from 
18.9  to  22.4  ;  the  number  of  loaded  cars  per  train  from  18.2 
to  23.4  ;  and  the  average  number  of  tons  hauled  per  train 
from  344  to  535,  or  55  per  cent.  In  consequence,  although 
there  was  an  actual  decline  in  average  receipts  per  ton-mile, 
the  freight  revenue  earned  per  train-mile  increased  from  $2.61 
to  $3.83,  or  almost  50  per  cent.  In  these  figures  is  to  be 
found  the  chief  explanation  of  the  fact  that  the  railroads  were 
able,  in  the  absence  of  any  advance  in  rates,  to  increase  the 
average  wage  per  employee  from  $577  in  1906  to  $849  in  1916, 
or  47  per  cent,  and  at  the  same  time  maintain  their  solvency. 

While  it  is  easy  to  demonstrate  the  incorrectness  of  the  con- 
tention that  under  private  management  our  railroads  have  been 
inefficiently  operated,  I  do  agree  that  an  increase  of  efficiency 
could  be  secured  under  some  plan  by  which  the  employees 
would  be  stimulated  to  greater  efforts.  It  is  unfortunately  true 
that  a  spirit  of  antagonism  has  grown  up  between  the  owners 
and  managers  on  the  one  side  and  the  employees  on  the  other 
which  is  constantly  rendering  it  more  difficult  to  get  efficiency. 
But  I  certainly  do  not  believe  that  an  increase  in  efficiency 
would  be  obtained  by  substituting  government  ownership  for 
private  ownership  and  the  so-called  "tripartite  management" 
contemplated  by  the  Plumb  Plan  for  private  management. 
The  Plumb  Plan  and  all  other  syndicalist  plans  really  con- 
template and  would  result  in  the  domination  of  management  by 
labor  unions.  Under  the  Plumb  Plan  specifically  if  any  surplus 
earnings  were  made  the  employees  would  get  half  of  them,  while 
if  any  losses  were  incurred  the  public  would  have  to  pay  all  of 
them.  Would  the  employees  be  deeply  concerned  about  losses 
no  part  of  which  they  would  have  to  pay,  especially  if  they 
were  incurred  in  order  to  give  them  higher  wages?  Further- 
more, the  Plumb  Plan  would  drive  brains  out  of  the  railroad 
business.    No  man  of  real  ability  and  initiative  would  stay  in 


NATIONAL  RESOURCES  AND  ACTIVITIES  91 

the  railroad  business  under  that  plan  if  there  was  any  other 
business  left  into  which  he  could  go  and  get  freedom  of  action 
and  rewards  in  proportion  to  his  ability  and  initiative.  Con- 
sequently, while  it  is  conceivable,  although  not  probable,  that 
under  the  Plumb  Plan  the  employees  would  do  more  and  better 
work,  it  is  certain  that  the  total  amount  of  brain  power  actually 
devoted  to  increasing  railroad  efficiency  would  be  diminished ; 
and  no  increase  in  the  efficiency  of  those  who  work  with  their 
hands  could  long  compensate  for  a  substantial  decline  in  the 
amount  of  brains  devoted  to  the  business. 

Personally,  I  should  like  to  see  the  ownership  of  the  railroads 
radically  changed.  I  should  like  to  see  it  transferred,  however, 
not  to  the  government,  but  largely,  or  even  wholly,  to  the  rail- 
road employees.  In  my  opinion  the  only  way  in  which  true 
democracy  in  industry  can  ever  be  brought  about  is  not  by 
the  government  buying  large  industries  and  turning  them  over 
to  their  employees  to  run  but  by  the  employees  themselves 
buying  these  industries.  It  would  be  by  no  means  so  difficult 
to  do  as  it  may  seem.  A  simple  computation  will  show  that 
the  railway  employees,  by  saving  one  fifth  of  their  present  an- 
nual wages,  investing  these  savings  in  railroad  stocks,  and  in- 
vesting also  in  railroad  stocks  the  normal  dividends  upon  their 
stock,  could  in  five  years  buy  at  par  a  majority  of  the  stock  of 
all  the  railroads  of  the  United  States.  Ownership  of  a  majority 
of  the  stock  would  give  them  complete  control  of  the  manage- 
ment. Everybody  should  be  glad  to  see  them  in  control  of  the 
management  if  they  had  bought  control  of  the  ownership  of 
the  properties  with  their  own  savings.  The  employees  would 
then  know  that  if  the  properties  were  efficiently  managed  they 
would  gain  by  it,  and  also  that  if  the  properties  were  inefficiently 
managed  they  would  lose  by  it ;  and  it  should  not  be  over- 
looked that  the  fear  of  loss  is  just  as  necessary  an  incentive  to 
efficiency  in  business  management  as  the  hope  of  gain. 

Knowing  that  if  the  railroads  were  efficiently  managed  they 
would  gain  and  that  if  they  were  inefficiently  managed  they 
would  lose,  the  employees  would  have  incentive  not  only  to  do 
the  best  and  most  work  of  which  they  wore  capable  themselves 
but  also  the  same  incentive  that  the  present  owners  have  to 


92  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

employ  the  best  brains  available  to  manage  the  properties  and 
to  give  the  managers  the  freedom  of  action  and  the  authority 
necessary  to  enable  them  to  develop  and  manage  the  properties 
efficiently. 

When  the  railroads  are  returned  to  private  management  I 
personally  should  like  to  see  some  plan  worked  out  under  which 
the  employees  would  be  given  ample  opportunity  to  acquire 
railroad  securities ;  under  which  they  would  be  given  some 
voice  in  the  management  even  before  they  had  acquired  sub- 
stantial amounts  of  stock  ;  and  also  under  which  each  individual 
employee  would  be  given  opportunity  to  earn  not  only  reason- 
able standard  wages  but,  in  addition,  premiums  or  bonuses  for 
doing  more  than  the  standard  amount  of  work.  But,  as  I  have 
said,  I  do  not  agree  that  our  railroads  have  been  operated  with 
inefficiency  in  the  past,  and  I  feel  sure  that  the  efficiency  of 
their  operation  would  be  destroyed  by  the  adoption  of  any 
plan  which  placed  the  control  and  management  in  the  hands  of 
the  employees  while  imposing  upon  them  no  financial  responsi- 
bility for  the  results  of  their  management. 


Ill 

SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT 

NATIONAL  WELFARE   DEFINED   INDUSTRIALLY^ 
Herbert  Hoover 

[Herbert  Clark  Hoover  (1874-  )  was  educated  at  Leland 
Stanford,  Jr.  University.  After  a  short  experience  as  a  mining  en- 
gineer in  the  United  States  he  pursued  his  profession  in  Australia 
and  China.  In  1899  he  was  made  chief  engineer  of  the  Chinese 
Imperial  Bureau  of  Mines,  and  after  the  Boxer  troubles,  during 
which  he  took  part  in  the  defense  of  Tientsin,  he  became  associated 
with  English  mining  companies  in  China  and  various  parts  of  the 
East  Indies.  From  191 5  to  191 7  he  directed  the  distribution  in 
Belgium  of  the  food  supplies  furnished  by  the  Allies  and  the  United 
States.  When  the  United  States  entered  the  World  War  he  became 
the  United  States  Food  Administrator  and  managed  the  conservation 
and  distribution  of  foodstuffs  in  the  entire  country  during  the  period 
of  the  war.  His  writings  deal  with  mining  or  with  the  problems  of 
world  food  supply.    In  192 1  he  became  Secretary  of  Commerce.] 

It  is  the  essence  of  democracy  that  progress  of  the  mass  must 
rise  from  progress  of  the  individuaL  It  is  the  only  road  to  a 
higher  civilization.  Its  conception  of  the  state  is  of  one  that, 
representative  of  all  the  citizens,  will  in  the  region  of  eco- 
nomic activities  limit  itself  in  the  main  to  the  prevention  of 
economic  domination  of  the  few  over  the  many.  It  is  true  that 
our  government  in  these  latter  particulars  sometimes  lags  be- 
hind the  fertile  economic  inventiveness  and  greed  of  some  of  our 
citizens,  and  it  requires  constant  progress  in  legislation  and 
enforcement  to  keep  pace  with  them.  On  the  whole,  however,  it 
has  moved  surely  in  its  corrective  influence,  and  our  institutions 
have  demonstrated  themselves  capable  of  meeting  their  tasks. 

'  Reprinted  by  permission  from  the  Saturday  Evening  Post.  Copy- 
righted, 1920,  by  the  Curtis  Publishing  Company,  Philadelphia. 

93 


94      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

This  dominant  idea  of  establishing  and  preserving  an  equal- 
ity of  opportunity  has  during  these  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
carried  us  on  a  far  different  road  of  social  and  political  ideals 
from  that  in  Europe.  We  have  no  frozen  class  distinctions. 
We  have  developed  a  far  better  distribution  of  necessities^  com- 
forts, and  wealth  than  any  other  place  in  the  world.  We  have 
a  willingness  to  abide  by  the  will  of  the  majority,  a  sense  of 
neighborly  obligation,  and  a  higher  sense  of  justice,  of  self- 
sacrifice,  and  of  public  conscience ;  and  out  of  these  we  have 
certainty  of  ultimate  solutions.  For  all  I  know,  it  may  be  neces- 
sary to  have  revolutions  in  some  places  in  Europe  in  order  to 
bring  about  these  things,  but  it  does  not  follow  that  such  philos- 
ophies have  any  place  with  us.  Our  plan  does  not  enable  us 
to  take  our  neighbor's  home  overnight,  but  it  does  enable  us 
to  build  one  of  our  own. 

I  am  one  of  the  adherents  of  this  American  philosophy  from 
a  conviction  that  only  along  this  line  lie  the  moral  and  physical 
welfare  of  this  nation  and  its  usefulness  in  regenerating  the  rest 
of  the  world.  Adherence  to  this  idea,  however,  requires  some 
militancy  against  imported  social  diseases  that  tend  to  infect  it ; 
and,  of  more  importance,  it  requires  a  jealous  care  that  with 
our  advancing  economic  development  the  state  should  also 
advance  in  its  safeguards  against  domination  —  that  is,  in  the 
preservation  of  our  fundamental  ideal  of  equality  and  oppor- 
tunity. Latterly,  with  the  growth  of  large  units  of  industry,  the 
loss  of  the  old  mutual  responsibilities  of  employed  and  em- 
ployer, the  import  of  many  ill-digested  foreigners,  and,  gener- 
ally, out  of  contact  with  Europe,  we  have  given  class  terms  to 
purely  economic  meanings,  with  much  superficiality.  The  as- 
sumption of  class  distinctions  between  labor,  capital,  and 
the  public  is  a  foolish  creation  of  false  class  consciousness 
and  is  building  for  us  the  very  same  kind  of  foundations  upon 
which  Europe  rocks  today.  All  panaceas  of  socialism,  syndi- 
calism, communism^  capitalism,  or  any  other  "isms"  are  based 
on  the  hypothesis  that  class  division  necessarily  exists  in  the 
United  States,  and  thence  they  launch  into  logical  deductions 
after  the  acceptance  of  this  false  premise. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  95 

When  all  is  said  and  done,  labor,  whether  with  hand  or  mind, 
is  the  only  excuse  for  membership  in  the  community.  Capital 
is  nothing  but  the  savings  of  the  nation,  represented  by  tools 
of  production  and  service,  whether  it  be  land,  factories,  homes, 
railways,  or  schools  ;  its  managers  are  laborers  themselves  and 
must  be  sifted  out  by  competition  in  accord  with  their  intelli- 
gence, skill,  and  character.  Capital  is  not  money,  for  money  is 
nothing  but  the  token  by  which  we  barter  goods  and  services. 
There  is  no  quarrel  with  capital  itself ;  the  quarrel  is  over  the 
distribution  of  its  ownership  and  the  profits  that  rise  from  it. 


HUMANIZING  INDUSTRY ^ 
Irving  Fisher 

[Irving  Fisher  (1867-  )  was  educated  at  Yale  and  has  taught 
political  economy  at  his  alma  mater  since  1895.  He  has  written 
extensively  on  economic  and  social  problems,  especially  on  the 
question   of  public   health.] 

The  war  revealed  great  industrial  discontent  in  our  country 
and  our  consequent  weakness  in  time  of  stress  and  emergency. 
Lack  of  loyalty  and  lukewarmness  of  patriotism  appeared  more 
common  among  the  industrial  workers  than  elsewhere.  The 
I.  W.  W.  were  regarded  as  distinctly  disloyal.  .  .  .  The  fault 
with  the  I.W.  W.  is  not  primarily  with  its  members,  but  with 
our  existing  social  and  industrial  system.  There  is  something 
radically  wrong,  of  which  the  I.  W.  W.  is  a  symptom.  We 
must  try  to  get  an  understanding  of  this,  not  stop  at  mere 
blame  of  its  victims.  .  .  . 

There  are  great  changes  necessary  and  imminent,  in  bringing 
which,  I  believe,  we  should  cooperate  with  the  workingman.  It 
will  not  be  mere  increase  of  wages  and  reduction  of  hours, 
though  these  reforms  are  the  two  things  stressed  in  the  demands 
of  the  labor  unions.    These  needs  have  constituted  the  "labor 

1  From  the  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science,  Vol.  LXXXII,  March,  1919.  Reprinted  by  permission. 


96  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

problem  "  in  the  minds  of  most  of  us,  but  they  will,  I  believe, 
largely  take  care  of  themselves, —  at  least,  with  the  help  of  the 
labor  unions. 

There  is  a  more  fundamental  reform  upon  which  they  are, 
to  a  great  degree,  dependent.  Christ  stated  a  great  industrial 
truth  when  he  said,  "  Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone." 

Of  the  many  rights  which  the  workman  has  heretofore  only 
partially  enjoyed,  the  greatest  is  the  right  to  healthful  condi- 
tions. Many  do  not  recognize  the  importance  of  this  right,  but 
a  few  labor  leaders,  like  Arthur  Holder,  are  giving  it  more 
attention  as  a  great  factor  in  industrial  success.  Health  is  the 
workingman's  capital,  his  only  important  asset.  The  man  with 
money,  the  capitalist^  does  not  need  health  as  a  means  of  mak- 
ing a  living.  If  he  falls  ill  he  can  "  live  on  his  money."  But 
if  the  laboring  man  loses  his  health  he  loses  the  power  to  earn 
his  living.  His  wages,  which  we  consider  so  all-important,  are 
dependent  on  his  health. 

Some  people  say  that  if  his  wages  were  raised,  his  health 
would  be  improved.  This  is  doubtless  true ;  but  it  is  still  truer 
that  if  his  health  were  improved,  his  wages  would  be  increased. 
To  improve  slightly  an  individual's  health  will  not  necessarily, 
it  is  true,  nor  always,  increase  that  individual's  wages  ;  but  if  we 
increase,  even  slightly,  the  health,  and  thereby  the  working 
power  of  the  nation  as  a  whole,  the  general  wage  level  will  rise. 
In  the  last  analysis  wages  depend  on  productive  power,  and  the 
workingman's  power  to  produce  is  dependent  on  his  muscle  and 
brain,  that  is,  his  health. 

A  good  illustration  of  this  truth  is  to  be  found  in  the  story 
of  the  hookworm  disease  in  the  South.  The  hookworm  is  called 
the  germ  of  laziness.  It  produces  anaemia  and  saps  energy. 
The  Rockefeller  Hookworm  Commission,  by  an  expenditure  of 
about  sixty-five  cents  per  capita,  cured  the  disease  by  whole- 
sale and  made  the  Southern  poor  whites  once  more  into  work- 
ing citizens.  With  regained  health  a  worker  could  produce, 
at  the  least,  enough  to  make  every  day  a  loo  per  cent  return 
on  the  sixty-five  cents  invested  in  his  health. 

Great  returns  are  to  be  had  from  investments  by  employ- 
ers in  factory  sanitation,  lighting,  and  ventilation ;    by  the 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  97 

workingman  in  better  and  better-selected  food,  housing,  cloth- 
ing, sports,  amusements,  and  books  on  health  ;  and  by  the  state 
in  hospitals,  sanatoria,  dispensaries,  health  departments,  health 
insurance,  factory  inspection,  labor  legislation,  school  hygiene, 
recreation,  etc. 

The  workingman  should  have  not  only  physical  health  but 
also  mental  health.  Mental  health  depends  on  the  satisfaction 
of  certain  fundamental  instincts.  If  these  major  instincts  are 
not  fairly  well  satisfied,  our  lives  will  be  failures^  ending  in  the 
insane  asylum  or  the  penitentiary.  A  human  being  whose  in- 
stincts are  balked  becomes  an  enemy  of  society.  This  is  the 
real  reason  for  the  I.  W.  W.,  as  was  emphasized  by  Professor 
Carleton  H.  Parker  of  the  University  of  Washington,  who,  by 
personal  contact  and  deep  insight,  probably  knew  more  about 
that  much-discussed  organization  than  anyone  else.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  I.W.  W.  were,  he  saw,  not  innately  antisocial,  but 
became  so  because  they  had  individual  initiative  and  a  will  of 
their  own  and  refused  to  conform,  like  the  ordinary  workman, 
to  the  Procrustean  bed  of  industry  today.  They  rebelled,  like 
the  small  boys  of  a  large  city  without  playgrounds  who  break 
windows  for  excitement.  When  boys  become  so  destructive 
we  give  them,  not  a  jail  sentence  but  a  place  to  play ;  or  at 
any  rate  the  Juvenile  Court  recognizes  that  the  delinquency  is 
simply  a  miscarriage  of  the  boys'  legitimate  instincts. 

The  I.  W.  W.  workman  is  the  naughty  boy  of  industry.  We 
have  not  given  him  the  outlet  which  he  must  have.  The  very 
energy  which  breaks  through  and  makes  him  destructive  would, 
if  enlisted  for  constructive  work,  have  made  him  a  more  useful 
workman  than  his  more  docile  and  less  energetic  brother.  It 
may  be  too  late  to  reclaim  him  now,  but  we  can  at  least  prevent 
the  making  of  more  of  his  kind. 

I  shall  name  seven  major  instincts  which  apparently  must 
be  satisfied  to  make  a  normal  life.  First,  there  is  the  instinct 
of  self-preservation.  The  securing  of  a  living  wage  must  always 
be  the  first  concern  of  a  workingman.  This  has  always  been 
recognized  as  basic,  and  I  need  not,  therefore,  dilate  upon  it. 
Furthermore,  self-preservation  demands  the  maintenance  of 
healthy  working  conditions,  the  prevention  of  overfatigue,  and 


98      VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

the  provision  of  safety  devices.  No  man  can  do  his  work 
well  if  he  feels  that  it  is  fitting  himself  only  for  the  scrap  heap. 
Finally,  every  employee  should  be  assured  of  a  steady  job  so 
long  as  he  does  his  part.  If  he  has  to  be  "  laid  off"  without  any 
fault  of  his  own,  he  should  have  due  notice  or  a  suitable  dis- 
missal wage.    Fear  of  unemployment  dissipates  energy. 

Secondly,  there  is  the  instinct  of  self-expression,  or  workman- 
ship. Until  modern  industry  contrives  to  satisfy  this  instinct 
in  the  ordinary  workman^  our  labor  problem  will  not  be  solved. 
I  shall  consider  this  below  in  greater  detail. 

Thirdly,  there  is  the  instinct  of  self-respect.  Unless  the 
workman  is  made  to  feel  that  "A  man's  a  man  for  a'  that"  he 
will  be  our  enemy,  will  cherish  a  grievance,  and  will  become 
antisocial. 

The  employer  should,  so  far  as  possible,  use  praise  for  incen- 
tive rather  than  blame.  If  it  is  really  necessary  to  call  a  man 
down,  the  rebuke  need  not  be  administered  before  his  fellow 
workers.  The  workman  should  be  considered  trustworthy  until 
he  has  proved  himself  untrustworthy.  Rivalry  in  production 
involves  the  satisfaction  of  the  instinct  of  self-respect. 

Fourthly,  there  is  the  instinct  of  loyalty.  The  universality 
of  this  instinct  was  strikingly  illustrated  in  this  war.  Devotion 
to  a  cause,  sacrifice  for  this  cause,  heroism  if  you  like,  have 
been  shown  by  soldiers  whose  whole  training  has  been  one  of 
monotonous  industry.  The  instinct  of  loyalty  should  be  satis- 
fied in  industry  as  it  is  in  the  trenches.  The  employer  often 
misses  a  great  opportunity  to  be  his  workingmen's  hero  or  hon- 
ored general  instead  of  their  taskmaster. 

If  the  men  can  organize,  a  team  spirit  will  develop.  Collec- 
tive bargaining  and  other  forms  of  control  of  the  industry  by  the 
men  will  forestall  useless  "knocking"  and  discontent  and  will 
develop  loyalty  instead.  ]Mass  activities,  group  singing,  march- 
ing in  a  parade,  wearing  a  button,  or  cheering  a  baseball  team 
will  develop  and  foster  a  united  feeling. 

Pride  is  an  important  constituent  of  loyalty.  Workers  have 
a  right  to  expect  that  their  plant  is  one  worth  being  proud  of. 
Fundamentally,  loyalty  is  based  on  justice  and  mutual  consid- 
eration.   The  employer  who  can  best  put  himself  in  the  place 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  99 

of  his  men  best  secures  their  loyalty.  Extra  work  or  overtime 
can,  by  loyal  workmen,  be  "volunteered"  with  pleasure  where 
'"conscription"  might  arouse  ill-feeling. 

The  great  instinct  of  love,  or  of  home-making,  is  a  fifth 
instinct,  and  one  vital  for  society.  The  homeless,  migratory 
I.  W.  W.  is  an  example  of  what  occurs  when  life  is  deprived  of 
its  satisfaction.  A  man  thinks  of  his  own  family  as  part  of  him- 
self. His  success  means  their  happiness.  Any  action  on  the 
employer's  part  which  affects  family  welfare  immediately 
arouses  resentment.  The  unrest  caused  by  inability  to  enjoy 
family  life  or  by  bad  instinctive  life  outside  the  plant  is  de- 
moralizing. In  a  word,  conditions  of  employment  should,  in 
every  way,  conduce  to  a  happy  family  life. 

The  workingman's  instinct  of  worship,  if  we  may  properly 
speak  of  such  a  faculty  as  a  sixth  instinct,  hungers  and  thirsts 
for  righteousness  and  often  is  not  filled.  If  his  daily  work 
appeals  to  his  whole  nature  and  not  merely  to  a  portion  of  it, 
the  task  will  be  exalted  to  become  really  a  part  of  his  religion. 
No  man  should  have  to  do  work  which  is  degrading  or  which 
will  tend  to  crush  idealism  or  warp  the  spirit  of  humanity  and 
service. 

Finally,  the  play  impulse  must  be  satisfied  to  produce  mental 
health.  The  saying  "  All  work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull 
boy"  is  true  of  the  laboring  man. 

Some  instincts  are  almost  inevitably  repressed  and,  deprived 
of  a  wise  outlet,  are  in  danger  of  an  unrestrained  outburst. 
Play  provides  a  safety  valve.  This  play  should  not  be  frivolity, 
still  less  dissipation,  but  entertainment  which  will  develop 
physical  and  mental  health  and  a  broadened  outlook  on  life. 
A  long  workday  makes  proper  play  impossible  and  is  largely 
responsible  for  a  man's  resort  to  drink  and  other  perversions 
of  play. 

Of  the  seven  mentioned,  only  the  instinct  of  self-preservation 
is  even  fairly  well  satisfied  by  the  majority  of  workers.  We 
thrum  too  continually  on  this  one  string.  Human  nature  is  a 
harp  of  many  strings.    We  must  use  the  rest  of  the  octave. 

The  instinct  of  workmanship  has  been  all  but  crowded  out. 
So  gradual  and  subtle  has  been  the  change  that  we  do  not 


100     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

recognize  it  until  we  suddenly  note  the  contrast.  Like  the  art  of 
making  iridescent  glass,  which,  since  the  iridescence  was  due  to 
inperfections  in  the  process  of  glassmaking,  was  lost  without 
the  loss  being  realized  as  that  process  was  gradually  perfected, 
so  the  instinct  of  workmanship  has  been  dropped  out  by  the 
very  perfection  of  modern  industry.  While  making  one  man 
perfect  in  one  point  and  another  in  another  point,  we  have  sac- 
rificed the  satisfaction  of  both.  The  monotonous  nature  of  the 
work  and  the  fact  that  the  workman  does  not  see  his  product 
are  the  characteristics  of  modern  industry  which  cripple  the 
effort  that  instinct  could  put  into  the  work  and  which  are 
responsible  for  the  dissatisfaction  and  unrest.  Get  rid  of  them, 
and  the  main  (though  not  the  only)  obstacle  to  industrial  peace 
will  be  gone. 

In  modern  industry  individuality  is  lost, — each  man's  work 
is  thrown  in  a  common  pool.  In  former  days  the  cobbler  made 
the  pair  of  shoes  and  watched  their  progress,  inquiring  of  the 
wearer,  '^How  do  they  wear  today  ?  "  The  artist  similarly  has 
the  joy  of  self-expression  and  creation  in  his  picture. 

Textbooks  of  economics  today  make  the  statement  that  the 
motive  for  work  is  money-making,  \^^th  the  exception  that 
artists  and  scientists  work  for  the  joy  that  their  work  gives 
them.  There  is  no  greater  fallacy  than  to  make  this  contrast. 
The  workman  has  this  same  power,  though  latent,  of  enjoying 
self-expression  in  his  work.  Our  usual  acceptance  of  this  fallacy- 
shows  how  far  we  are  off  the  track. 

President  Eliot  of  Harvard  once  spoke  in  Boston  on  the  joy 
of  work.  The  next  week  a  labor  leader  in  the  same  hall  spoke 
with  a  scornful  laugh  of  the  '' highbrow's"  reference  to  such 
"joy,"  and  the  crowd  of  workingmen  present  approvingly 
joined  in  his  ridicule.  This  incident  is  pathetic  evidence  that 
joy  of  work  is  too  often  conspicuous  by  its  absence.  When  I 
first  became  conscious  of  this  fact  I  was  loath  to  publish  my 
opinions.  I  was  not  sufficiently  experienced  in  the  field  either 
as  laborer  or  employer.  I  wanted  to  wait  until  I  could  see  the 
ideas  tested. 

In  the  last  year  Miss  Marot's  book  "The  Creative  Impulse  in 
Industry"  and  Ordway  Tead's  on  "The  Instincts  in  Industry" 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  loi 

have  given  expression  to  substantially  these  same  conclusions. 
From  still  another  angle  Carleton  H.  Parker  had  reached 
similar  views.  The  strongest  evidence  of  their  truth,  however, 
is  the  experience  of  Robert  B.  Wolf,  who  has  applied  them  in 
the  practical  management  of  a  paper-pulp  factory. 

What  did  Wolf  do  ?  He  introduced  into  his  mill  a  system  of 
record  charts  by  which  each  individual  workman  could  see 
what  his  contribution  to  the  product  was.  Just  as  in  baseball 
we  are  interested  in  the  score,  and  just  as  in  school,  students 
find  grades  an  incentive^  so  the  workmen  were  stimulated  by 
having  and  making  a  record.  The  curves  and  charts  which 
W^olf  devised  gave  an  opportunity  for  such  expression  as  the 
artist  or  handicraftsman  enjoys. 

Before  Wolf  came  to  the  mill,  where  he  tried  out  these  ideas, 
there  used  to  be  discontent.  On  his  arrival  as  manager,  there 
was  a  strike  on,  and  pickets  surrounded  the  yards.  The  mill- 
owner  told  him  to  get  that  energy  that  was  called  out  by  the 
strike  into  the  making  of  wood  pulp.  In  strikes,  as  in  the 
trenches,  there  is  the  satisfaction  of  the  instincts. 

At  first  antagonistic  to  Wolf's  innovations,  the  men  soon  saw 
the  "new  game"  and,  in  striving  to  excel  in  it,  found  a  con- 
structive outlet  for  the  impulses  that  had  previously  gone  into 
destructive  channels.  They  no  longer  have  to  make  trouble  in 
order  to  have  the  feeling  of  "  something  doing."  Discontent  is 
gone.  It  has  sometimes  been  necessary  to  change  a  man's 
work,  but  almost  never  to  discharge  a  man  for  inefiiciency.  The 
tendency  of  letting  men  slip  into  dead-end  jobs  is  overcome. 
Mentally  and  physically  each  man  is  suited  to  his  job.  Pro- 
motions and  the  development  of  all-round  ability  are  encour- 
aged. The  work  becomes  educative,  as  the  workman,  watching 
his  progress,  masters  the  process  until  he  can  himself  invent 
improvements  in  the  technique. 

I  have  sometimes  illustrated  the  fact  that  employees  need 
other  than  monetary  inducements  in  this  way  :  Suppose  Presi- 
dent Wilson,  as  General  Pershing's  employer,  had  said  to  the 
general  when  he  called  him  to  the  White  House  before  sending 
him  overseas  :  "  Now,  Pershing,  you  are  going  to  do  a  job  for 
me.    I  want  it  well  done.    I  know  you  will  shirk  if  you  have 


102     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

a  chance.  I  therefore  want  to  hitch  up  your  interests  with  mine. 
Your  pay  will  depend  on  your  victories.  I'll  pay  you  a  bonus 
for  every  German  killed,  and  another  for  every  German  taken 
prisoner.  I'll  pay  you  also  for  overtime  beyond  eight  hours 
a  day." 

How  would  General  Pershing  reply  to  such  '^inducements," 
especially  when  put  forward  as  though  President  Wilson  as- 
sumed that  he  could  not  be  expected  to  feel  any  other  motive 
than  the  mercenary  one?  Would  he  not  have  replied :  "Here 
is  my  resignation,  Mr.  President.  You  have  insulted  me.  What 
do  you  take  me  for  ?  Of  course  a  man  must  live,  but  money  is 
the  last  thing  I  am  thinking  of  now.  I  want  to  fight  for  my 
country,  for  you,  for  our  ideals^  for  glory,  and  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  expressing  whatever  is  in  me  of  military  genius"? 

An  objector  might  say,  "  But  Pershing  is  a  general,  an  artist 
in  his  line,  an  exceptional  man."  Were  not  the  common  sol- 
diers under  him  fighting  with  the  same  motives  ?  And  were 
they  not  the  very  same  men  who  were  formerly  in  shops  work- 
ing merely  for  pay  ?  The  army  affords  the  most  supreme  illus- 
tration of  men  motivated  by  entirely  different  instincts  from 
simply  self-preservation  or  "  making  a  living."  Instincts  which 
had  been  repressed  or  dormant  up  to  this  point  in  their  lives 
were  found  far  more  powerful  in  these  workmen  soldiers  than 
the  instinct  of  making  a  living.  When,  as  ex-soldiers,  they  come 
back  to  be  workmen  again  they  unconsciously  miss  something, 
and  unless  it  is  supplied  them,  there  will  be  trouble.  We  must 
satisfy  their  higher  instincts.  The  employer  must  see  in  the 
workman  his  brother  man,  of  the  same  flesh  and  blood,  with 
the  same  soul  hunger,  needing  the  same  soul  food  to  satisfy  it. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  103 

THE  TECHNIQUE  OF  AMERICAN  INDUSTRY ^ 

Carleton  H.  Parker 

[Carleton  H.  Parker  (1878-1918)  was  graduated  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  California  in  1904.  He  later  studied  economics,  especially 
its  human  side  as  developed  by  pyschological  investigations,  at 
Harvard  and  at  various  German  universities.  From  19 12  to  his 
death  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  at  the  universities  of  California 
and  Washington  and  in  acting  as  investigator  and  mediator  in  labor 
disputes  in  the  West.  His  life,  entitled  "An  American  Idyll,"  has 
been  written  by  his  wife,  Cornelia  Stratton  Parker,  who  has  also 
edited  a  collection  of  his  writings,  "The  Casual  Laborer."] 

One  hundred  years  ago  an  industrial  characteristic  isolated 
itself  from  the  general  body  and  began  an  evolution,  slow  but 
stupendous  in  promise.  Industrial  technique  had  been  in  past 
economic  periods  the  but  slightly  important  assistant  of  man's 
trade  dexterity.  Today  the  machine  in  its  character  fixes  the 
man's  speed  of  work,  his  hours,  his  posture,  limits  his  thoughts 
in  the  day,  and  in  the  end  molds  for  his  life  the  very  processes 
of  his  mind,  and  thus  determines  how  he  shall  worship,  vote, 
and  find  his  pleasure. 

In  America,  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  the  machine  tech- 
nique began  its  last  stage  of  evolution,  which  was  to  reach  in 
our  day  "scientific  management."  The  minute  subdivision  of 
industrial  production,  and  the  adaptation  of  the  automatic  ma- 
chine, more  than  any  other  single  characteristic,  defines  Ameri- 
can production.  It  determines  the  intelligence  and  sex  of  the 
worker,  demands  the  temperamentally  acquiescent,  and  finds 
self-assertion  and  trade-unionism  impossible  with  "efficiency." 
What  is  this  technique?  What  kind  of  a  worker  has  it  de- 
manded and  obtained  ?  .  .  . 

An  eyewitness  at  the  stockyards  describes  a  scene  in  one  of 
the  large  packing-houses,  "A  month  ago,"  he  says,  "we  stood 
with  a  superintendent  in  a  room  of  the  canning  department. 
Down  both  sides  of  a  long  table  stood  twenty  immigrant 
women ;  most  of  them  were  visibly  middle-aged  and  mothers. 

^From  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  January,  1920.    Reprinted  by  permission. 


104  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

'Look  at  that  Slovak  woman,'  said  the  superintendent.  She 
stood  bending  slightly  forward,  her  dull  eyes  staring  straight 
down,  her  elbow  jerking  back  and  forth,  her  hands  jumping  in 
nervous  haste  to  keep  up  with  the  gang.  These  hands  made  one 
simple  precise  motion  each  second,  3600  an  hour,  and  all 
exactly  the  same.  'She  is  one  of  the  best  workers  we  have,' 
the  superintendent  was  saying.  We  moved  closer  and  glanced 
at  her  face.  Then  we  saw  a  strange  contrast.  The  hands  were 
swift,  precise,  intelligent.  The  face  was  stolid,  vague,  vacant. 
'It  took  a  long  time  to  pound  the  idea  into  her  head,'  the 
superintendent  continued,  '  but  when  this  grade  of  woman  once 
absorbs  an  idea  she  holds  it.  She  is  too  stupid  to  vary.  She 
seems  to  have  no  other  thought  to  distract  her.  She  is  as  sure 
as  a  machine.  For  much  of  our  work  this  woman  is  the  kind 
we  want.    Her  mind  is  all  on  the  table.'  " 

A  few  years  ago  the  miner  in  the  coal  fields  was  a  skilled 
worker  in  the  true  sense.  He  handled  dynamite,  calculated  his 
own  timbering,  undercut  the  coal,  and  worked  on  piecework  ton- 
nage. The  mining  machine  did  away  with  the  skilled  pick- 
work,  and  a  machine  drilled  the  holes  which  broke  down  the 
cut-under  coal.  The  holes  were  fired  by  a  specialized  work- 
man. This  new  work  of  tending  the  machines  under  a  foreman 
is  done  largely  by  unskilled  agricultural  laborers  from  the 
Balkan  States,  who  have  never  seen  a  coal  mine.  The  skilled 
American  coal  miner  is  rapidly  deserting  the  Pennsylvania  soft- 
coal  region. 

The  irregularity  of  the  miner's  working  days,  hourly  and 
yearly,  must  always  be  taken  into  account.  In  1898,  in  anthra- 
cite coal,  the  men  worked  152  days,  the  lowest  record  since 
1890;  in  1917,  285  days,  the  highest  record.  The  average 
number  of  days  worked  during  a  year  from  1890  to  191 7  is 
204.  In  bituminous  coal  the  average  has  been  214.  There  is 
considerable  variation  in  the  hours  of  work  among  coal  miners. 
The  average  day  for  anthracite  in  19 19  is  7.4  hours;  the  aver- 
age wage  61  cents  per  hour.  The  largest  number  of  men  are 
found  to  be  working  8  to  9  hours  at  wages  of  from  50  to  60 
cents.    Over  10  per  cent  of  the  1892  men  studied  work  over 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  105 

10  hours,  and  one  third  over  12  hours.  At  the  other  extreme 
20  per  cent  work  under  6  hours,  and  one  half  under  4  hours. 
In  bituminous  coal  the  average  day  is  5.5  hours,  the  average 
wage  72  cents  per  hour;  10,790,  by  far  the  largest  group, 
fall  under  the  heading  "  60,  and  under  70,  cents." 

Even  in  the  industry  alleged  to  demand  more  skill  among 
its  workmen  than  any  other,  the  manufacture  of  automobiles, 
the  machine  is  beginning  to  render  technical  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience unnecessary.  The  great  Ford  plant  at  Detroit  em- 
ployed 40,000  men,  manufactured  2618  machines  a  day,  or 
785,432  a  year,  and  in  191 7  produced  $350,000,000  to  S400,- 
000,000  worth  of  cars,  as  compared  with  $89,000,000  worth  in 
1913  and  $206,867,343  in  1916. 

The  basic  fact  in  a  consideration  of  this  factory  is  that  it 
produces  one  car  which  holds  almost  without  change  to  one 
model.  This  standardization  of  type  has  allowed  all  the  econ- 
omies of  large-scale  production.  All  operations  are  simplified 
to  the  last  possible  division.  An  agricultural  laborer  from 
Austria-Hungary  can  be  made  a  one-piece  molder  in  three  days, 
and  in  two  days  could  be  a  finished  core-maker.  A  maximum 
period  of  two  days  is  allowed  for  learners  in  most  branches  of 
the  work.  If  the  operation  is  not  learned  within  that  time 
the  worker  is  moved  on  to  another  type  of  occupation. 

Labor  need  not  even  be  able-bodied.  The  overhead  crane 
has  done  away  with  lifting  and  trucking.  By  planning  and 
crowding  machines  on  the  floor,  the  four-cylinder  casting,  which 
formerly  traveled  over  4000  feet  in  the  finishing,  now  (19 14) 
travels  but  334  feet. 

Steadily  the  labor  of  this  plant  becomes  unskilled,  the  change 
keeping  pace  with  the  unceasing  mechanization  of  the  produc- 
tive work.  So  minute  has  the  subdivision  of  labor  become,  that 
men  must  be  moved  from  one  job  to  another  in  order  to  make 
it  humanly  possible  to  keep  working  over  a  long  period  within 
the  plant. 

In  1890,  in  a  certain  community  in  Pennsylvania,  a  glass- 
factory  was  built,  and  skilled  glassworkers  from  Belgium, 
Germany,  and  France  imported.    Very  few  unskilled  workers 


io6     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

could  be  used.  Late  in  the  nineties  glassmaking  machinery 
was  perfected  and  was  introduced  into  this  factory.  The  ma- 
chines simpHfied  the  principal  operations  so  much  that  cheap 
unskilled  labor  was  immediately  put  at  work.  The  Glass- 
workers'  Union  recognized  the  danger  in  this  development  and 
in  1898  struck  against  the  machine.  The  union  was  beaten, 
and  by  1904  every  plant  in  the  community  had  fully  installed 
the  machines.  Italians,  Poles,  Slovaks,  and  Russians  rapidly 
filled  the  industr}'^  and  now  (1914)  all  plants  are  running  as 
''open  shops."  Of  the  9000  inhabitants  of  this  community, 
4800  were  recent  immigrants  from  southeastern  Europe.  This 
same  story  finds  endless  repetition  in  the  intensive  studies  of 
the  Federal  Immigration  Commission. 

An  uncolored  statement  from  the  United  States  Tariff  Com- 
mission Report  (1918)  illuminates  a  striking  phase  of  American 
large-scale  production : 

Without  touch  or  aid  of  human  hand,  an  automatic  machine 
produces  complete  one-dram  bottles  at  the  rate  of  165  per  minute. 
In  the  manufacture  of  beer  bottles  one  machine  displaces  54  skilled 
hand-workmen.  The  labor  cost  is  "practically  nothing."  ...  In 
the  making  of  bottles  by  the  hand  method  the  labor  cost  in  19 16 
was  57  per  cent  of  the  total  factory  cost  in  twenty-six  factories. 
The  greater  part  of  this  is  due  to  the  high  wages  paid  the  skilled 
blowers.  By  the  automatic  method  the  wage  of  the  skilled  opera- 
tive is  a  cost  that  is  entirely  eliminated. 

A  machine-blower  in  the  most  efficient  American  factories 
can  blow  five  cylinders  of  wnndow  glass  simultaneously,  each 
nearly  39  feet  long  and  32  inches  in  diameter,  in  less  time 
than  it  takes  a  Belgian  hand-blower  to  blow  one  cylinder  5  feet 
long  and  5  inches  in  diameter.  The  wages  of  this  skilled 
operative  are  $40  per  week.  In  the  demoralization  of  industr}^ 
due  to  competition  between  handmade  and  machine-made  glass 
in  191 2-19 13  wages  sank  two  thirds.  Hand-workers  went  down 
to  $15  a  week;  even  so,  machine-made  glass  was  cheaper. 
Wages  at  that  time  were  lower  in  the  L^'nited  States  than  in 
Belgium.  Now  there  are  but  1800  hand  window-glass  blowers — 
among  the  most  highly  skilled  of  all  workmen — in  the  L^nited 
States,  and  their  annual  income  does  not  average  $100  per  month. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  107 

An  improvement  in  the  hours  of  work  is  noticeable.  In  19 14, 
1738  glassworkers  in  Pennsylvania  were  employed  72  hours  a 
week.  The  1919  statistics  show  that  7.7  hours  is  the  average 
day,  with  about  one  fifth  of  the  workers  employed  10  hours 
and  over.  The  average  wage  today  is  50  cents  per  hour,  with 
almost  half  the  workers  earning  under  40  cents. 

The  influence  of  technique  in  characterizing  the  foregoing 
industries  is  in  no  way  so  absolute  as  the  effect  of  improved 
machinery  upon  the  labor  force  in  the  steel  industry.  In  the 
United  States  the  industry  of  smelting  ore  and  making  mer- 
chant steel  employs  over  300,000  men  and  is  capitalized  at 
one  and  one-half  billions.  All  the  various  processes  in  the 
manufacture  of  steel  are  mechanically  handled  and  rigidly  con- 
tinuous beyond  the  most  optimistic  dreams  of  early  systema- 
tizers.  In  addition  to  the  introduction  of  automatic  machinery, 
the  human  labor  has  been  subdivided  and  simplified  until  in 
1910  the  percentage  of  men  in  the  industry  skilled  in  the  tra- 
ditional sense  had  sunk  from  60  to  24.  Some  plants  show  an 
even  greater  change.  The  roll  tables,  which  now  carry  and 
distribute  the  white-hot  ingots,  are  controlled  by  a  semiskilled 
man  with  levers,  who  sits  high  up  in  a  small  cage,  the  "pulpit," 
in  the  side  of  the  building.  The  big  crews  of  skilled  catchers 
and  roughers,  who  formerly  handled  by  hand  the  steel  in 
the  rolls,  have  disappeared.  Thousands  of  dollars  and  exhaus- 
tive experiments  are  used  to  do  away  with  the  labor  of  a  single 
man.  Machinery  has  been  greatly  increased  in  size ;  more 
power  is  used.  The  electric  overhead  crane  has,  literally,  re- 
placed hundreds  of  men ;  scrap  steel  is  now  picked  up  by  the 
ton  by  a  single  semiskilled  man  in  control  of  an  electric 
magnet ;  steel  rails  are  cut,  sorted,  and  shoved  out  on  the 
cooler  by  a  remote  man  in  a  chair  with  a  lever  in  his  hand. 
The  ore  which  two  days  ago  lay  in  its  geological  bed  in  the 
Upper  Superior  region  may  today  be  sorted,  measured,  and 
stamped  steel  rails,  sold  and  about  to  leave  the  mill  on  a  flat 
car  for  some  Far-Western  railway  division. 

It  is  difficult  to  realize  how  completely  the  adaptation  of 
machinery,  stimulated  by  the  "continuous  process"  of  steel 


I08  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

production,  has  changed  the  very  nature  of  the  industry.  If 
the  best  economies  are  to  be  realized,  the  pig  iron  must  be  con- 
verted into  steel  while  yet  liquid,  and  this  steel  rolled  at  once 
into  merchantable  shapes  without  cooling.  As  the  blast  fur- 
naces increased  the  tonnage  of  the  "cast,"  great  machines  had 
to  be  contrived  to  handle  the  growing  units  and  handle  them 
rapidly.  The  relative  weight  of  the  product,  the  necessary 
speed  in  its  handling,  the  great  heat  of  the  pig  iron  and  steel, 
the  standardization  of  the  product,  the  quickly  recognized 
economies  of  large-scale  production,  all  stimulated  the  intro- 
duction of  the  automatic  machine.  In  the  smelting  of  ore  be- 
tween 1899  and  1909  the  number  of  workers  in  the  industry 
actually  decreased  2.1  per  cent ;  the  horse  power  used  increased 
136  per  cent ;  the  value  of  materials,  144  per  cent ;  and  the 
capital  invested  in  the  plant,  241  per  cent.  This  is  the  statis- 
tical indication  of  the  decline  in  importance  of  human  labor  and 
the  increasing  part  played  by  capital. 

When  pig  iron  was  cast  into  sand,  it  required  500  men  to 
handle  the  2500-ton  output  of  live  furnaces.  With  the  pig- 
casting  machine  now  in  use  and  the  direct  conversion  of  the 
molten  pig  iron,  130  men  are  a  complete  casting  crew  for 
that  tonnage.  The  "mud  gun"  and  pneumatic  drill  have 
displaced  many  skilled  men.  One  of  the  very  recent  labor- 
saving  machines  to  be  installed  is  that  for  handling  molten 
iron,  by  which  4  men  now  do  the  work  formerly  accomplished 
by  fourteen.  .  .  . 

In  the  steel  industry  proper,  despite  its  going  over  for  the 
first  time  into  the  manufacture  of  merchant  shapes  which  de- 
mand much  hand  labor,  the  labor  force  increased  but  31  per 
cent  in  the  ten  years  1899  to  1909,  while  horse  power  used  in- 
creased 91  per  cent;  materials,  68  per  cent;  and  capital 
invested,  135.5  per  cent.  From  1909  to  19 14  labor  increased 
5  per  cent;  horse  power,  28.8  per  cent;  material  decreased 
lo.i  per  cent;  capital  increased  25.2  per  cent. 

This  has  resulted,  in  the  last  few  years^  in  a  tendency  to 
develop  a  new  type  of  worker,  the  semiskilled,  at  the  expense 
of  both  the  skilled  men  above  him  and  the  unskilled  below. 
These  semiskilled  are  recruited  from  the  unskilled  workers,  who, 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  109 

after  a  period  of  work,  have  picked  up  some  single  dexterity, 
such  as  handling  a  crane  or  a  lever,  but  who  lack,  as  a  rule,  any- 
mechanical  knowledge.  A  steel  superintendent  put  it  tersely : 
"That  Pole  skidding  rails  up  the  incline  with  his  lever  control 
could  be  replaced  in  five  minutes  by  any  one  of  those  three 
laborers  there.  They  have  each  been  watching  like  hawks  for 
months  every  move  he  has  made.  We  can  get  a  thousand  of 
these  semiskilled  tomorrow  by  calling  on  the  gang  bosses.  They 
can't  go  very  wrong  with  the  machine,  no  matter  how  confused 
they  get ;  and  in  the  end,  while  they  know  only  one  small 
operation,  they  have  that  cold." 

The  machine  displaces  the  unskilled,  and  the  semiskilled  dis- 
places the  skilled  at  the  machine.  This  new  evolution  dates 
roughly  from  the  recent  increase  in  the  use  of  electric  power 
in  the  plants.  .  .  . 

Industrial  evolution  was  fated  to  produce  the  technique  of 
the  automatic  machine.  The  all-important  necessity  of  exact 
standardization  in  the  production  of  duplicate  parts  meant 
that  the  one  irresponsible,  variable  influence — man's  labor — 
must  be  minimized,  even  eradicated.  At  once  a  vast  equipment 
of  nineteenth-century  skill  and  trade  knowledge  lost  value. 
Unskilled  labor,  capable  only  of  sustained  attention,  became 
the  typical  labor.  Not  only  did  the  huge  markets  of  New 
York,  Chicago,  Cleveland,  and  Pittsburgh  furnish  a  ready  sup- 
ply to  the  capitalist  but  the  human  elements  in  this  labor  mar- 
ket found  that  they  could  easily  sell  their  unskilled  labor  in  any 
market  which  had  a  labor  demand,  and  the  stimulus  to  a  rest- 
less, migratory  spirit  was  given.  The  number  of  hirings  in 
the  year  necessary  to  keep  the  factory  force  up  to  normal  has 
steadily  increased.  As  the  simplification  of  processes  develops, 
one  immigrant  race  is  rapidly  displaced  by  another  of  lower 
industrial  knowledge  and  willing  to  work  for  lower  wages.  As 
the  intensity  and  monotony  of  the  work  increased,  a  race  more 
pliable  and  subservient,  less  liable  to  organize,  was  naturally 
sought  by  the  employer.  The  United  States  Steel  Corporation 
advertised  during  the  tin-mill  strike  in  1909:  "Wanted:  Tin- 
ners, Catchers,  and  Helpers,  to  work  in  open  shops.  Syrians, 
Poles,  and  Roumanians  preferred." 


no  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

The  new  technique  came  because  the  machine  industry  born 
in  the  English  Industrial  Revolution  was  predestined  to  pro- 
duce it.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  coincidences  in  economic 
history  is  the  migration  to  America  from  Europe  of  a  great 
nation  of  unskilled  workers  during  the  very  period  when  the 
simplification  and  mechanization  of  American  industry  took 
place,  AMiether  this  unskilled  labor-supply  came  because 
America's  siinplified  industry  offered  it  employment,  or  the  in- 
dustry simplified  itself  to  use  the  cheap  adult  labor  arriving  at 
the  rate  of  almost  a  million  a  year,  is  a  question  to  which  a 
correct  answer  is  not  essential.  The  labor  and  technique  came 
together. 

THE  DEMANDS  OF  LABORS 

Samuel  Gompers 

[Samuel  Gompers  (1850-  )  was  born  in  England,  but  came 
to  America  in  early  youth  and  began  life  as  a  cigar  maker  in  New 
York  City.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  Labor  and  has  been,  except  for  one  year,  its  president  since 
1882.  During  the  World  War  he  was  a  member  of  the  Advisory 
Committee  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense.  He  is  generally 
regarded  today  as  the  spokesman  for  organized  labor  in  America.] 

The  American  labor  movement  will  cooperate  with  all  other 
agencies  to  help  in  this  reconstruction  time.  Our  movement  is 
not  to  destroy  but  to  construct, —  but  all  may  just  as  well  un- 
derstand now  as  at  any  other  time  that  the  advantages  which 
the  workers  of  America  and  of  the  allied  countries  have  gained, 
and  which  we  hope  to  extend  to  the  people  even  of  the  con- 
quered countries,  are  not  going  to  be  taken  away  from  us, 
and  that  we  will  resist  to  the  uttermost  any  attempt  to  take 
them  away. 

The  principal  danger  is  that  we  may  at  some  time  in  the 
future  revert  to  the  old  conditions  of  unemployment.  The 
continually  increasing  cost  of  living  entails  the  necessity  of 

^From  the  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science,  Vol.  LXXXI,  January,  1919.    Reprinted  by  permission. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  iii 

continually  increasing  wages,  but  a  surplus  in  the  labor  market 
makes  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  wages  to  keep  pace  with 
the  living  cost.  Intermittent  employment  with  low  wages  is 
one  of  the  chief  causes  of  poverty,  with  its  accompanying  mis- 
ery and  its  social  and  personal  demoralization.  Reasonable 
farsightedness  in  readjustment  will  obviate  a  labor  surplus. 
We  have  a  right  to  demand,  and  we  do  demand,  that  such 
reasonable  farsightedness  be  exercised.  The  American  Federa- 
tion of  Labor  expects  governments — national,  state,  and  local 
— to  adopt  every  measure  necessary  to  prevent  unemployment. 
During  the  period  of  reconstruction  every  wage  earner  should 
be  afforded  the  opportunity  of  suitable  employment  and  an  in- 
come and  sustenance  sufficient  to  enable  him,  without  the  labor 
of  mother  and  children,  to  maintain  himself  and  family  in 
health  and  comfort  and  to  provide  a  competence  for  old  age 
with  ample  provision  for  recreation  and  good  citizenship.  Gov- 
ernments should  (i)  prepare  and  inaugurate  plans  to  build 
model  homes  for  the  wage  earners ;  ( 2 )  establish  a  system  of 
credits  whereby  the  workers  may  borrow  money  for  a  long 
term  of  years  at  a  low  rate  of  interest  to  build  their  own  homes  ; 
(3)  encourage,  protect,  and  extend  credit  to  voluntary,  non- 
profit-making, and  joint-tenancy  associations  ;  (4)  exempt  from 
taxation  and  grant  other  subsidies  for  houses  constructed  for 
the  occupancy  of  their  owners;  (5)  relieve  municipalities  from 
the  restrictions  preventing  them  from  undertaking  proper 
housing  plans;  (6)  encourage  and  support  the  erection  and 
maintenance  of  houses  where  workers  may  find  lodging  and 
nourishing  food  during  the  periods  of  unemployment. 

Much  talk  has  been  made  about  preparing  plans  for  the  con- 
struction of  public  buildings,  roads,  and  other  public  works 
in  order  to  avoid  unemployment.  All  such  suggestions  are 
good,  in  so  far  as  these  things  are  needed,  and  no  farther.  There 
can  be  no  question,  however,  of  the  urgent,  immediate  need  of 
great  numbers  of  wholesome  houses  at  reasonable  cost  for  work- 
ing people.  The  environment  offered  by  many  of  the  tenements 
is  unfit  to  surround  the  growing  children  of  a  free  republic. 
The  revolting  conditions  in  many  tenement  districts,  without 
sufficient  light,  air,  or  play  spaces,  tend  to  produce  persons 


112  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

unfit  for  citizenship.  Squalor  and  almost  unlivable  conditions 
are  still  found  in  many  houses  of  the  workers  whose  compensa- 
tion is  inadequate,  where  opportunity  to  associate  with  their 
fellow  workmen  for  their  moral,  intellectual,  and  industrial  im- 
provement is  persistently  and  successfully  denied.  Such  hous- 
ing should  not  be  permitted  to  exist. 

The  employment  of  public  funds  in  the  provision  of  homes 
for  workers  is  a  far  better  investment  than  large  expenditures  on 
ornamental  buildings  and  beautiful  boulevards,  seldom,  if  ever, 
seen  by  the  poor.  If  large  expenditures  of  public  money  are 
needed  to  avoid  unemployment,  the  construction  of  houses  is 
of  far  greater  public  benefit,  especially  to  the  poor,  promoting 
health,  happiness,  and  good  citizenship.  Moreover,  such  in- 
vestments have  the  added  merit  of  returning  to  the  public  treas- 
ury without  loss  and  even  with  gain. 

There  is  developing  very  rapidly  a  public  demand  that  every 
worker  shall  be  provided  with  a  decent,  sanitary,  and  comfortable 
home.  The  wage  earners  of  America  are  deserving  of  this  new 
conception  of  living  and  are  entitled  to  no  less.  This,  then, 
is  the  inspiration,  the  motive  of  one  of  the  ultimate  objects  of 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor. 

The  demand  of  the  wage  earners  is  not  only  for  sanitary 
and  fit  houses  to  live  in  but  that  a  sufficient  number  of  houses 
shall  be  available  so  that  they  may  be  freed  from  the  evil  of  high 
rents,  overcrowding,  and  congestion.  The  ordinary  method  of 
supplying  houses,  through  their  erection  by  private  capital  for 
investment  and  speculation,  has  rarely,  if  ever,  been  adequate. 
Nearly  all  of  our  workmen's  habitations  are  built  on  a  system 
of  exploitation.  Most  of  the  houses  built  for  the  wage  earners 
are  built  to  sell.  This  system  of  exploitation  does  not  permit 
of  proper  housing  facilities  and  adequate  upkeep. 

The  fact  that  there  is  danger  of  unemployment,  a  shortage  of 
foodstuffs,  and  demoralizing  congestion  of  population,  while 
there  are  hundreds  of  millions  of  acres  of  agricultural,  suburban, 
and  urban  lands  lying  idle,  should  make  a  deeper  impression 
upon  public  thought  than  it  has  heretofore  done.  We  should 
no  longer  hesitate  in  forcing  unused  lands  into  use  by  exempt- 
ing all  improvements  from  taxation  and  by  placing  a  tax  on 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  1 13 

nonproductive  the  same  as  on  productive  land.  Regular  employ- 
ment, comfortable  homes,  necessities  at  reasonable  cost,  and  an 
adequate  income  are  urgent  demands.  Reconstruction  will  fail 
unless  these  conditions  are  attained. 

To  attain  them  the  workers  must  be  assured  that  they  are 
guaranteed  and  encouraged  in  the  exercise  of  their  right  to 
organize  and  associate  with  their  fellow  workmen  in  the  trade 
unions  and  deal  collectively  with  employers  through  such 
representation  of  their  unions  as  they  may  choose,  for  their 
improved  economic  and  industrial  conditions  and  relations. 

Perhaps  the  following  might  be  regarded  as  a  summary 
of  demands  to  be  satisfied  in  the  pending  readjustment  of 
conditions : 

No  wage  reduction. 

No  lengthening  of  the  working  day. 

Opportunity  for  suitable,  regular,  remunerative  employment. 

A  workday  of  not  more  than  eight  hours ;  a  work  week  of 
not  more  than  five  and  a  half  days. 

Protection  for  women  and  children  from  overwork,  under- 
pay, and  unsuitable  employment. 

Increased  opportunity  for  both  education  and  play  for 
children. 

The  elimination  of  private  monopolies,  and  protection  from 
the  extortions  of  profiteers. 

The  final  disposition  of  the  railroads,  telegraph,  telephone, 
and  cable  systems  to  be  determined  by  the  consideration  of  the 
rights  and  interests  of  the  whole  people,  rather  than  the  special 
privileges  and  interests  of  a  few. 

Comfortable,  sanitary  homes  and  wholesome  environment, 
rather  than  elaborate  improvements  of  no  special  benefit  to  the 
masses  of  the  people. 

Heavier  taxation  of  idle  lands,  to  the  end  that  they  may 
be  used  for  the  public  good. 

A  government  made  more  responsive  to  the  demands  of  jus- 
tice and  the  common  good  by  the  adoption  of  initiative  and 
referendum  measures. 

In  a  word,  any  and  all  measures  shall  be  taken  tending 
toward  constant  growth  and  development  of  the   economic, 


114  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

industrial,  political,  social,  and  humane  conditions  for  the  toilers, 
to  make  life  the  better  worth  living,  to  develop  all  that  is  best 
in  the  human  being,  and  to  make  for  the  whole  people  a  struc- 
ture wherein  each  will  vie  with  the  other  in  the  establishment 
of  the  highest  and  best  concepts  and  ideals  of  the  human  family. 


THE   REPLY  OF  CAPITAL— REPRESENTATION^ 
John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr. 

[John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  was 
educated  at  Brown  University.  He  has  been  closely  identified  with 
the  business  interests  of  his  father  and  has  given  special  attention 
to  the  relations  between  capital  and  labor  ;  as,  for  example,  his  plan 
which  was  adopted  for  settling  the  strike  of  the  employees  of  the 
Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  in  1914.  His  philanthropic  ac- 
tivities have  also  been  extensive,  especially  as  chairman  of  the 
Rockefeller  Foundation.] 

I  speak  as  a  member  of  the  public  group.  I  hold  no  execu- 
tive position  in  any  business  corporation  and  am  not  here  repre- 
senting any  business  interests.  I  have  come  in  response  to  the 
request  of  the  President  to  accept  appointment  as  one  of  the 
representatives  of  the  general  public  in  this  conference  and  am 
considering  the  questions  which  come  before  the  conference 
from  that  standpoint. 

The  resolution  before  the  conference  is  predicated  upon  the 
principle  of  representation  in  industry,  which  includes  the  right 
to  organize  and  the  right  to  bargain  collectively.  In  supporting 
the  resolution  I  beg  leave  to  present  the  following  statement 
which  for  the  sake  of  brevity  and  clearness  I  have  reduced 
to  writing : 

The  experiences  through  which  our  country  has  passed  in 
the  months  of  war,  exhibiting  as  they  have  the  willingness 
of  all  Americans,  without  distinction  of  race,  creed,  or  class, 
to  sacrifice  personal  ends  for  a  great  ideal  and  to  work  to- 
gether in  a  spirit  of  brotherhood  and  cooperation  has  been 

iprom  the  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  oj  Political  and  Social 
Science,  Vol.  LXXXI,  January,  1919.     Reprinted  by  permission. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  115 

a  revelation  to  our  own  people  and  a  cause  for  congratulation 
to  us  all.  Now  that  the  stimulus  of  the  war  is  over,  the 
question  which  confronts  our  nation  is,  How  can  these  high 
levels  of  unselfish  devotion  to  the  common  good  be  maintained 
and  extended  to  the  civic  life  of  the  nation  in  times  of  peace  ? 

We  have  been  called  together  to  consider  the  industrial 
problem.  Only  as  each  of  us  discharges  his  duties  as  a  member 
of  this  conference  in  the  same  high  spirit  of  patriotism,  of  un- 
selfish allegiance  to  right  and  justice,  of  devotion  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  democracy  and  brotherhood  with  which  we  approached 
the  problems  of  the  war,  can  we  hope  for  success  in  the  solution 
of  the  industrial  problem  which  is  no  less  vital  to  the  life  of  the 
nation.  There  are  pessimists  who  say  that  there  is  no  solution 
short  of  revolution  and  the  overturn  of  the  existing  social  order. 
Surely  the  men  and  women  who  have  shown  themselves  capa- 
ble of  such  lofty  sacrifice,  who  have  actually  given  themselves 
so  freely,  gladly,  unreservedly  as  the  people  of  this  great  coun- 
try have  during  these  past  years,  will  stand  together  as  un- 
selfishly in  solving  this  great  industrial  problem  as  they  did  in 
dealing  with  the  problems  of  the  war  if  only  right  is  made  clear 
and  the  way  to  a  solution  pointed  out. 

The  world  position  which  our  country  holds  today  is  due 
to  the  wide  vision  of  the  statesmen  who  founded  these  United 
States  and  to  the  daring  and  indomitable  persistence  of  the 
great  industrial  leaders,  together  with  the  myriads  of  men  who, 
with  faith  in  their  leadership,  have  cooperated  to  rear  the  mar- 
velous industrial  structure  of  which  our  country  today  is  justly 
so  proud.  This  result  has  been  produced  by  the  cooperation  of 
four  factors  in  industry  —  labor,  capital,  management,  and  the 
public,  the  last  represented  by  the  consumer  and  by  organized 
government.  No  one  of  these  groups  can  alone  claim  credit 
for  what  has  been  accomplished.  Just  what  is  the  relative  im- 
portance of  the  contribution  made  to  the  success  of  industry 
by  these  several  factors  and  what  their  relative  rewards  should 
be  are  debatable  questions.  But  however  views  may  differ  on 
these  questions,  it  is  clear  that  the  common  interest  cannot  be 
advanced  by  the  effort  of  any  one  party  to  dominate  the  other, 
to  dictate  arbitrarily  the  terms  on  which  alone  it  will  cooperate, 


ii6  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

to  threaten  to  withdraw  if  any  attempt  is  made  to  thwart  the 
enforcement  of  its  will.  Such  a  position  is  as  un-American  as 
it  is  intolerable. 

Almost  countless  are  the  suggested  solutions  of  the  indus- 
trial problem  which  have  been  brought  forth  since  industry 
first  began  to  be  a  problem.  Most  of  these  are  impracticable ; 
some  are  unjust  ;  some  are  selfish  and  therefore  unworthy  ; 
some  of  them  have  merit  and  should  be  carefully  studied.  None 
can  be  looked  to  as  a  panacea.  There  are  those  who  believe 
that  legislation  is  the  cure-all  for  every  social,  economic,  politi- 
cal, and  industrial  ill.  Much  can  be  done  by  legislation  to 
prevent  injustice  and  encourage  right  tendencies,  but  legislation 
will  never  solve  the  industrial  problem.  Its  solution  can  be 
brought  about  only  by  the  introduction  of  a  new  spirit  into 
the  relationship  between  the  parties  to  industry — a  spirit  of 
justice  and  brotherhood. 

The  personal  relationship  which  existed  in  bygone  days  is 
essential  to  the  development  of  this  new  spirit.  It  must  be 
reestablished  —  if  not  in  its  original  form,  at  least  as  nearly  so 
as  possible.  In  the  early  days  of  the  development  of  industry 
the  employer  and  capital  investor  were  frequently  one.  Daily 
contact  was  had  between  him  and  his  employees,  who  were  his 
friends  and  neighbors.  Any  questions  w^hich  arose  on  either 
side  were  taken  up  at  once  and  readily  adjusted. 

A  feeling  of  genuine  friendliness,  mutual  confidence,  and 
stimulating  interest  in  the  common  enterprise  was  the  result. 
How  different  is  the  situation  today !  Because  of  the  propor- 
tions which  modern  industry  has  attained,  employers  and  em- 
ployees are  too  often  strangers  to  each  other.  Personal  contact, 
so  vital  to  the  success  of  any  enterprise,  is  practically  unknown  ; 
and  naturally  misunderstanding,  suspicion,  distrust,  and  (too 
often)  hatred  have  developed,  bringing  in  their  train  all  the 
industrial  ills  which  have  become  far  too  common.  Where  men 
are  strangers  and  have  no  points  of  contact,  this  is  the  usual 
outcome.  On  the  other  hand,  where  men  meet  frequently  about 
a  table,  rub  elbows,  exchange  views,  and  discuss  matters  of 
common  interest,  almost  invariably  it  happens  that  the  vast 
majority  of  their  differences  quickly  disappear  and  friendly 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  117 

relations  are  established.  Much  of  the  strife  and  bitterness  in 
industrial  relations  results  from  lack  of  ability  or  willingness 
on  the  part  of  both  labor  and  capital  to  view  their  common 
problems  each  from  the  other's  point  of  view. 

A  man  who  recently  devoted  some  months  to  studying  the 
industrial  problem  and  who  came  in  contact  with  thousands  of 
workmen  in  various  industries  throughout  the  country  has  said 
that  it  was  obvious  to  him  from  the  outset  that  the  workingmen 
were  seeking  for  something,  which  at  first  he  thought  to  be 
higher  wages.  As  his  touch  with  them  extended  he  came  to  the 
conclusion,  however,  that  not  higher  wages  but  recognition  as 
men  was  what  they  really  sought.  What  joy  can  there  be  in 
life,  what  interest  can  a  man  take  in  his  work,  what  enthu- 
siasm can  he  be  expected  to  develop  on  behalf  of  his  employer, 
when  he  is  regarded  as  a  number  on  a  pay  roll,  a  cog  in  a  wheel, 
a  mere  "hand"?  Who  would  not  earnestly  seek  to  gain 
recognition  of  his  manhood  and  the  right  to  be  heard  and 
treated  as  a  human  being  and  not  as  a  machine  ? 

While  obviously  under  present  conditions  those  who  invest 
their  capital  in  an  industry,  often  numbered  by  the  thousand, 
cannot  have  personal  acquaintance  with  the  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  those  who  invest  their  labor,  contact  between 
those  two  parties  in  interest  can  and  must  be  established,  if  not 
directly,  then  through  their  respective  representatives.  The 
resumption  of  such  personal-  relations  through  frequent  con- 
ference and  current  meetings,  held  for  the  consideration  of 
matters  of  common  interest  such  as  terms  of  employment  and 
working  and  living  conditions,  is  essential  in  order  to  restore 
a  spirit  of  mutual  confidence,  good  will,  and  cooperation.  Per- 
sonal relations  can  be  revived  under  modern  conditions  only 
through  the  adequate  representation  of  the  employees.  Repre- 
sentation is  a  principle  which  is  fundamentally  just  and  vital 
to  the  successful  conduct  of  industry.  This  is  the  principle 
upon  which  the  democratic  government  of  our  country,  is 
founded.  On  the  battlefields  of  France  this  nation  poured  out 
its  blood  freely  in  order  that  democracy  might  be  maintained 
at  home  and  that  its  beneficent  institutions  might  become 
available  in  other  lands  as  well.    Surely  it  is  not  consistent  for 


Il8     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

us  as  Americans  to  demand  democracy  in  government  and 
practice  autocracy  in  industry. 

What  can  this  conference  do  to  further  the  establishment 
of  democracy  in  industry  and  lay  a  sure  and  solid  foundation 
for  the  permanent  development  of  cooperation,  good  will,  and 
industrial  well-being  ?  To  undertake  to  agree  on  the  details 
of  plans  and  methods  is  apt  to  lead  to  endless  controversy 
without  constructive  result.  Can  we  not,  however,  unite  in  the 
adoption  of  the  principle  of  representation,  and  the  agreement 
to  make  every  effort  to  secure  the  indorsement  and  acceptance 
of  this  principle  by  all  chambers  of  commerce,  industrial  and 
commercial  bodies,  and  all  organizations  of  labor  ?  Such  action 
I  feel  confident  would  be  overwhelmingly  backed  by  public 
opinion  and  cordially  approved  by  the  Federal  government. 
The  assurance  thus  given  of  a  closer  relationship  between  the 
parties  to  industry  would  further  justice,  promote  good  will, 
and  help  to  bridge  the  gulf  between  capital  and  labor. 

It  is  not  for  this  or  any  other  body  to  undertake  to  deter- 
mine for  industry  at  large  what  form  representation  shall  take. 
Once  having  adopted  the  principle  of  representation,  it  is  ob- 
viously wise  that  the  method  to  be  employed  should  be  left  in 
each  specific  instance  to  be  determined  by  the  parties  in  interest. 
If  there  is  to  be  peace  and  good  will  between  the  several  parties 
in  industry  it  will  surely  not  be  brought  about  by  the  enforce- 
ment upon  unwilling  groups  of  a  method  which  in  their  judg- 
ment is  not  adapted  to  their  peculiar  needs.  In  this  as  in  all 
else,  persuasion  is  an  essential  element  in  bringing  about  convic- 
tion. With  the  developments  in  industry  what  they  are  today, 
there  is  sure  to  come  a  progressive  evolution  from  autocratic, 
single  control — whether  by  capital,  labor,  or  the  state — to 
democratic,  cooperative  control  by  all  three.  The  whole  move- 
ment is  evolutionary.  That  which  is  fundamental  is  the  idea 
of  representation,  and  that  idea  must  find  expression  in  those 
forms  which  v;ill  serve  it  best,  with  conditions,  forces,  and  times 
what  they  are. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  1 19 

CAPITAL  AND  LABOR:    A  FAIR  DEAL^ 

Otto  H.  Kahn 

[Otto  H.  Kahn  (1867-  )  was  born  in  Germany  and  educated 
there  as  a  youth.  He  came  to  the  United  States  in  1893,  and  since 
that  time  has  been,  through  his  large  banking  interests  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Kuhn,  Loeb,  and  Company  and  as  director  of  various  trusts, 
corporations,  and  railroad  companies,  and,  furthermore,  as  trustee 
of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  and  of  Rutgers  Col- 
lege and  for  his  generous  encouragement  of  our  best  opera  and 
music,  one  of  the  most  useful  and  enterprising  of  Americans.  The 
tribute  he  paid  to  the  work  of  our  army  overseas  during  the  World 
War,  in  an  address  he  delivered  before  the  American  Bankers'  Asso- 
ciation in  Chicago,  at  the  close  of  1918,  was  one  of  the  stirring 
speeches  made  upon  our  public  platform  during  the  war.] 

The  principle  on  which  all  concerned  should  deal  with  the 
labor  question  appears  to  me  plain.  It  is  the  principle  of  the 
Golden  Rule.  I  think  the  formula  should  be  that,  first,  labor 
is  entitled  to  a  living  wage  ;  after  that,  capital  is  entitled  to  a 
living  wage ;  what  is  left  over  belongs  to  both  capital  and 
labor,  in  such  proportion  as  fairness  and  equity  and  reason 
shall  determine  in  all  cases. 

The  application  of  that  formula  is,  of  course,  complex  and 
difficult,  because  there  are  so  many  different  kinds  of  labor, 
there  are  so  many  different  kinds  of  capital.  Not  infrequently 
the  laborer  and  capitalist  overlap  and  merge  into  one.  You 
have  skilled  labor  and  unskilled  labor  and  casual  labor  ;  you 
have  the  small  employer,  the  large  individual  employer,  the 
corporate  employer,  the  inventor,  the  prospector,  etc.  And, 
then,  circumstances  and  conditions  vary  greatly,  of  course, 
in  different  parts  of  the  country  and  in  different  industries. 

It  is  impossible  to  measure  by  the  same  yardstick  everywhere, 
but  the  principle  of  fairness  can  be  stated,  the  desire  can  be 
slated,  to  do  everything  possible  to  bring  about  good  feeling 
and  good  understanding  between  labor  and  capital,  and  will- 
ingly and  freely  to  cooperate  so  that  labor  shall  receive  its  fair 

^  This  address  was  delivered  before  the  Carnegie  Institute,  Pittsburgh, 
April  24,   1919. 


120     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

share  in  the  fruits  of  industry,  not  only  by  way  of  a  wage 
return  but  of  an  adequate  return  also  in  those  less  tangible 
things  which  make  for  contentment  and  happiness. 

It  seems  to  me  that,  in  the  main,  right-thinking  men  of 
capital  and  of  labor  would  concur  in  the  following  points : 

I.  The  workman  is  neither  a  machine  nor  a  commodity.  He 
is  a  collaborator  with  capital.  (I  do  not  use  the  word  "part- 
ner," because  partnership  implies  sharing  in  the  risks  and 
losses  of  the  business,  which  risks  and  losses  labor  does  not 
and  cannot  be  expected  to  share,  except  to  a  limited  extent  and 
indirectly.)  He  must  be  given  an  effective  voice  in  determining 
jointly  with  the  employer  the  conditions  under  which  he  works, 
either  through  committees  in  each  factory  or  other  unit  or 
through  labor  unions,  or  through  both.  Individual  capacity, 
industry,  and  ambition  must  receive  encouragement  and  recog- 
nition. The  employer's  attitude  should  not  be  one  of  patroniz- 
ing or  grudging  concession,  but  frank  and  willing  recognition 
of  the  dignity  of  the  status  of  the  worker  and  of  the  considera- 
tion due  to  him  in  his  feelings  and  viewpoints. 

Ever>^thing  practicable  must  be  done  to  infuse  interest  and 
conscious  purpose  into  his  work  and  to  diminish  the  sense  of 
drudgery  and  monotony  of  his  daily  task.  The  closest  possible 
contact  must  be  maintained  between  employer  and  employee^ 
Arrangements  for  the  adjustment  of  grievances  must  be  pro- 
vided which  will  work  smoothly  and  instantaneously.  Every 
feasible  opportunity  must  be  given  to  the  workman  to  be  in- 
formed as  to  the  business  of  which  he  forms  a  part.  He  must 
not  be  deprived  of  his  employment  without  valid  cause.  For 
his  own  satisfaction  and  the  good  of  the  country  every  induce- 
ment and  facility  should  be  extended  to  him  to  become  the 
owner  of  property. 

Responsibility  has  nearly  always  a  sobering  and  usually  a 
broadening  effect.  I  believe  it  to  be  in  the  interest  of  labor 
and  capital  and  the  public  at  large  that  workmen  should  par- 
ticipate in  industrial  responsibilities  to  the  greatest  extent  com- 
patible with  the  maintenance  of  needful  order  and  system  and 
the  indispensable  unity  of  management.  Therefore,  wherever 
it  is  practicable  and  really  desired  by  the  employees  themselves 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  12 1 

to  have  representation  on  the  Board  of  Direction^  I  think  that 
should  be  conceded.  It  would  give  them  a  better  notion  of  the 
problems,  complexities,  and  cares  which  the  employer  has  to 
face.  It  would  tend  to  allay  the  suspicions  and  to  remove  the 
misconceptions  which,  so  frequently,  are  the  primary  cause  of 
trouble.  The  workman  would  come  to  realize  that  capitalists 
are  not,  perhaps,  quite  as  wise  and  deep  as  they  are  given 
credit  for,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  a  good  deal  less  grasping  and 
selfish  than  they  are  frequently  believed  to  be,  a  good  deal 
more  decent  and  well  meaning,  and  made  of  the  same  human 
stuff  as  the  worker,  without  the  addition  of  either  horns  or  claws 
or  hoofs. 

2.  The  worker's  living  conditions  must  be  made  dignified 
and  attractive  to  himself  and  his  family.  Nothing  is  of  greater 
importance.  To  provide  proper  homes  for  the  workers  is  one 
of  the  most  urgent  and  elementary  duties  of  the  employer,  or  if 
he  has  not  the  necessary  means,  then  it  becomes  the  duty  of 
the  state. 

3.  The  worker  must  be  relieved  of  the  dread  of  sickness,  un- 
employment, and  old  age.  It  is  utterly  inadmissible  that  be- 
cause industry  slackens,  or  illness  or  old  age  befalls  a  worker, 
he  and  his  family  should  therefore  be  condemned  to  suffering 
or  to  the  dread  of  suffering.  The  community  must  find  ways 
and  means  of  seeing  to  it,  by  public  works  or  otherwise^  that 
any  man  fit  and  honestly  desirous  to  do  an  honest  day's  work 
shall  have  an  opportunity  to  earn  a  living.  Those  unable  to 
work  must  be  honorably  protected.  The  only  ones  on  whom  a 
civilized  community  has  a  right  to  turn  its  back  are  those  un- 
willing to  work.  ,  .  . 

4.  The  worker  must  receive  a  wage  which  not  only  permits 
him  to  keep  body  and  soul  together  but  to  lay  something  by 
to  take  care  of  his  wife  and  children,  to  have  his  share  of  the 
comforts,  joys,  and  recreations  of  life,  and  to  be  encouraged  in 
the  practice  and  obtain  the  rewards  of  thrift. 

5.  Labor,  on  the  other  hand,  must  realize  that  high  wages 
can  only  be  maintained  if  high  production  is  maintained.  The 
restriction  of  production  is  a  sinister  and  harmful  fallacy,  most 
of  all  in  its  effect  on  labor. 


I 


12  2     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

The  primary  cause  of  poverty  is  underproduction.  Further- 
more, lessened  production  naturally  makes  for  high  costs.  High 
wages  accompanied  by  proportionately  high  cost  of  the  essen- 
tials of  living  don't  do  the  worker  any  good.  And  they  do  the 
rest  of  the  community  a  great  deal  of  harm.  The  welfare  of 
the  so-called  middle  classes — that  is,  the  men  and  women  liv- 
ing on  moderate  incomes,  the  small  shopkeeper,  the  average 
professional  man,  the  farmer,  etc. — is  just  as  important  to  the 
community  as  the  welfare  of  the  wage  earner.  If,  through 
undue  exactions,  through  unfair  use  of  his  power,  through  in- 
adequate output,  the  workman  brings  about  a  condition  in 
which  the  pressure  of  high  prices  becomes  intolerable  to  the 
middle  classes,  he  will  create  a  class  animosity  against  himself 
which  is  bound  to  be  of  infinite  harm  to  his  legitimate  aspira- 
tions.   Precisely  the  same,  of  course,  holds  true  of  capital. 

The  advent  of  the  machine  period  in  industry  somewhat  over 
a  century  ago  brought  about  a  fundamental  and  violent  dislo- 
cation of  the  relationship  which  had  grown  up  through  hun- 
dreds of  years  between  employer  and  employee.  The  result  has 
been  a  grave  and  long-continued  maladjustment.  In  conse- 
quence of  it,  for  a  long  period  in  the  past,  it  must  be  admitted, 
unfortunately,  labor  did  not  secure  a  square  deal,  and  society 
failed  to  do  anything  like  its  full  duty  by  labor.  But  more 
and  more  of  recent  years  the  conscience  and  thought  of  the 
world  have  awakened  to  a  recognition  of  the  rights  of  the 
working  people.  Much  has  been  done  of  late  to  remedy  that 
maladjustment,  the  origin  of  which  dates  back  to  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  process  of  rectification  has 
not  yet  been  completed,  but  it  is  going  on  apace.  Meanwhile 
laboring  men  should  take  heed  that,  in  their  rightful  resentment 
against  former  practices  of  exploitation  and  in  their  determina- 
tion to  obtain  the  redress  of  just  grievances,  they  do  not  permit 
themselves  to  be  misled  by  plausible  fallacies  or  self-seeking 
agitators.  They  must  not  give  credence,  for  instance,  to  the 
absurd  preachment  that  practically  all  wealth  other  than  that 
produced  by  the  farmer  is  the  product  of  the  exertions  of  the 
WDrkingman. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  123 

There  are,  of  course,  a  number  of  other  factors  that  enter 
into  the  creation  of  wealth.  Thus  the  "directive  faculty,"  the 
quality  of  leadership  in  thought  and  action,  is  not  only  one 
absolutely  needful  in  all  organized  undertakings,  great  or 
small,  but  it  becomes  increasingly  rare  and  consequently  in- 
creasingly more  valuable  as  the  object  to  which  it  addresses 
itself  increases  in  size,  complexity,  and  difficulty. 

Let  us  take  as  an  example  the  case  of  Mr.  Henry  Ford. 
Through  the  organizing  genius  and  enterprise  of  this  absolutely 
self-made  man  (not  by  monopoly  but  in  keen  competition), 
the  automobile,  instead  of  being  a  luxury  of  the  few,  has  been 
brought  within  the  reach  of  those  of  modest  means. 

The  cost  of  the  product  has  been  vastly  cheapened.  The 
margin  of  profit  on  each  automobile  sold  has  been  greatly 
diminished.  Wages  have  been  very  largely  increased,  the  liv- 
ing conditions  of  employees  greatly  improved.  Work  has  been 
found  for  a  great  many  more  men  than  were  employed  before. 

In  other  words,  every  single  human  factor  concerned  in  either 
production  or  consumption  has  gained  advantage.  New  wealth 
has  been  created  at  the  expense  of  no  one.  It  cannot  be  said 
that  it  was  created  by  the  workingman,  except  in  the  physical 
sense.  It  was  not  created  by  either  monopoly  or  privilege. 
It  was  created  mainly  out  of  Mr.  Ford's  brain  and  at  his  risk. 

By  far  the  largest  percentage  of  this  new  wealth  goes  to  pay 
the  wages  of  workingmen  and  other  expenses  of  the  business, 
but  out  of  what  is  left,  Mr.  Ford's  share  is,  by  common  report, 
in  excess  of  Si, 000,000  a  year. 

Did  Mr.  Ford  earn  $1,000,000  in  one  year?  If  not,  how 
much  did  he  earn}  By  what  scale  would  you  measure  the 
proportion  due  to  him  of  the  new  wealth  created  mainly  by 
his  faculties  ? 

If  he  had  not  been  allowed  to  earn  the  large  sums  which  he 
did  earn,  how  and  where  could  he  have  found  the  means  to 
enlarge  and  improve  his  factory  so  as  to  make  possible  an 
enterprise  which  immensely  cheapened  the  product  to  the  con- 
sumer and  largely  increased  the  wages  to  the  workingman  and 
the  opportunity  for  employment  ?  Is  there  any  instance  where 
communistic   or   even   merely   cooperative   undertakings   have 


124  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

produced  similar  results  ?  Is  there  any  instance  where  gov- 
ernmental management  has  produced  similar  results  ? 

Or,  to  take  another  instance :'  The  state  of  Florida  existed 
long  before  I\Ir.  Henry  ]\I.  Flagler  came  upon  the  scene,  but 
its  opportunities  were  permitted  ...  to  lie  largely  dormant 
until  INIr.  Flagler  risked  his  fortune  and  employed  the  power  of 
his  creative  genius  to  realize  the  visions  which  he  conceived  as  to 
the  possibilities  of  that  beautiful  and  richly  endowed  portion  of 
our  national  domain.  The  new  wealth,  growth,  and  opportuni- 
ties which  were  created  by  ]\Ir.  Flagler's  daring  and  far- 
flung  enterprise,  undertaken  and  carried  out  by  him  almost 
single-handed  in  the  face  of  scoffing  and  discouragement  and 
vast  difficulties,  are  almost  incalculable.  A  portion  of  that 
new  wealth  —  a  considerable  portion,  regarded  by  itself,  but 
utterly  insignificant  as  compared  to  the  total  enrichment  of  in- 
dividuals as  well  as  of  communities,  the  state,  and  the  nation 
— went  to  Mr.  Flagler.  Did  he  earn  that  reward?  Can  it  be 
denied  that  his  directive  faculty  and  pioneering  genius  were  a 
splendid  investment  to  the  people  of  Florida  and  of  the  nation 
at  the  compensation  he  received  ? 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  similar  instances  testifying  to 
the  vast  additions  made  to  the  assets  of  the  community  by  the 
genius,  daring,  and  efforts  of  men  endowed  with  the  gifts  of 
industrial  captaincy. 

In  a  recently  published,  very  able  pamphlet  entitled  "  Indus- 
trial Salvation,"  Miss  Christabel  Pankhurst,  the  well-known 
English  leader  in  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage,  says  : 

Certain  Socialists,  who  ought  to  know  better,  have  falsely  taught 
that  the  poverty  or  semi-poverty  of  the  many  is  due  to  the  luxu- 
rious living  of  the  prosperous  sections  of  the  community.  This  is 
not  the  truth,  and  if  through  all  the  years  of  Socialist  preachings 
the  result  of  each  year's  industrial  effort  had  been  divided  equally 
among  the  members  of  the  community,  there  would  have  been  no 
appreciable  increase  of  prosperity  for  any,  and  there  would  have 
been  one  dead  level  of  poverty  for  all. 

The  way  to  progress  is  not  to  pull  everybody  down  to  a  com- 
mon level  of  mediocrity,  but  to  stimulate  individual  effort  and 
strive  to  raise  the  general  level  of  well-being  and  opportunity. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  125 

It  is  not  material  success  which  should  be  abolished  ;  it  is 
poverty  and  justified  discontent  which  should  be  abolished. 

We  cannot  abolish  poverty  by  division,  but  only  by 
multiplication. 

It  is  not  by  the  spoliation  of  some^  but  by  creating  larger 
assets  and  broader  opportunity  for  all,  that  national  well-being 
can  and  must  be  enhanced. 

I  wonder  how  many  people  realize  that  if  all  incomes  above 
$10,000  were  taken  and  distributed  among  those  earning  less 
than  $10,000,  the  result,  as  near  as  it  is  possible  to  figure  it 
out,  would  be  that  the  income  of  those  receiving  that  distribu- 
tion would  be  increased  barely  ten  per  cent ! 

And  the  result  of  any  such  division  would  be  an  immense 
loss  in  national  productivity  by  turning  a  powerful  and  fructi- 
fying stream  into  a  mass  of  rivulets,  many  of  which  would 
simply  lose  themselves  in  the  sand. 

I  wonder  how  many  people  know  that  the  frequent  and  loud 
assertion  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  wealth  of  the  nation  is  held 
by  a  small  number  of  rich  men  is  wholly  false  ;  and  that  the 
fact  is,  on  the  contrary,  that  seven  eighths  of  our  national  in- 
come goes  to  those  with  incomes  of  $5000  or  less,  and  but  one 
eighth  to  those  with  incomes  above  $5000.  Moreover,  those 
in  receipt  of  incomes  of  $5000  or  less  pay  little  or  no  income 
tax,  while  those  having  large  incomes  are  subjected  to  very 
heavily  progressive  income  taxes. 

We  have  often  heard  it  said  recently — it  has  become  rather 
the  fashion  to  say  it — that  the  rulership  of  the  world  will 
henceforth  belong  to  labor.  I  yield  to  no  one  in  my  respect 
and  sympathy  for  labor  or  in  my  cordial  and  sincere  support 
of  its  just  claims.  The  structure  of  our  institutions  cannot 
stand  unless  the  masses  of  workmen,  farmers,  indeed  all  large 
strata  of  society,  feel  that  under  and  by  these  institutions  they 
are  being  given  a  square  deal  within  the  limits  not  of  Utopia 
but  of  what  is  sane,  right,  and  practicable. 

But  the  rulership  of  the  world  will  and  ought  to  belong  to 
no  one  class.  It  will  and  ought  to  belong  neither  to  labor 
nor  to  capital  nor  to  any  other  class.  It  will,  of  right  and 
in  fact,  belong  to  those  of  all  classes  who  acquire  title  to 


126     \1TAL  FORCES  IX  CURRENT  EVENTS 

it  by  talent^  hard  work,  self-discipline,  character,  and  service. 

He  is  no  genuine  friend  or  sound  counselor  of  the  people 
nor  a  true  patriot  who  recklessly,  calculatingly,  or  ignorantly 
raises  or  encourages  expectations  which  cannot  or  which  ought 
not  to  be  fulfilled. 

We  must  deal  with  all  these  things  with  common  sense, 
mutual  trust,  with  respect  for  all,  and  with  the  aim  of  guiding 
our  conduct  by  the  standard  of  liberty,  justice,  and  human 
sympathy.  But  we  must  rightly  understand  liberty.  We 
must  resolutely  oppose  those  who  in  their  impatient  grasping 
for  unattainable  perfection  would  make  of  liberty  a  raging  and 
destructive  torrent  instead  of  a  majestic  and  fertilizing  stream. 

Liberty  is  not  fool-proof.  For  its  beneficent  working  it  de- 
mands self-restraint,  a  sane  and  clear  recognition  of  the  reality 
of  things,  of  the  practical  and  attainable,  and  a  realization  of 
the  fact  that  there  are  laws  of  nature  and  of  economics  which 
are  immutable  and  beyond  our  power  to  change. 

Nothing  in  history  is  more  pathetic  than  the  record  of  the 
instances  when  one  or  the  other  of  the  peoples  of  the  world 
rejoicingly  followed  a  new  lead  which  it  was  promised  and 
fondly  believed  would  bring  it  to  freedom  and  happiness,  and 
then  suddenly  found  itself,  instead,  on  the  old  and  only  too 
well-trodden  lane  which  goes  through  suffering  and  turmoil  to 
disillusionment  and  reaction. 

I  suppose  most  of  us  when  we  were  twenty  knew  of  a  short  cut 
to  the  millennium  and  were  impatient,  resentful,  and  rather  con- 
temptuous of  those  whose  fossilized  prejudices  or  selfishness,  as 
we  regarded  them^  prevented  that  short  cut  from  becoming  the 
highroad  of  humanity. 

Now  that  we  are  older,  though  we  know  that  our  eyes  will 
not  behold  the  millennium,  we  should  still  like  the  nearest  pos- 
sible approach  to  it,  but  we  have  learned  that  no  short  cut 
leads  there  and  that  anybody  who  claims  to  have  found  one  is 
either  an  impostor  or  self-deceived. 

Among  those  wandering  signposts  to  Utopia  we  find  and 
recognize  certain  recurrent  types : 

There  are  those  who  in  the  fervor  of  their  world-improving 
mission  discover  and  proclaim  certain  cure-alls  for  the  ills  of 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  127 

humanity  which  they  fondly  and  honestly  believe  to  be  new 
and  unfailing  remedies,  but  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  are 
hoary  with  age,  having  been  tried  on  this  old  globe  of  ours 
at  one  time  or  another,  in  one  of  its  parts  or  another,  long 
ago — -tried  and  found  wanting,  and  discarded  after  sad 
disillusionment. 

There  are  the  spokesmen  of  sophomorism  rampant,  strut- 
ting about  in  the  cloak  of  superior  knowledge,  mischievously 
and  noisily,  to  the  disturbance  of  quiet  and  orderly  mental 
processes  and  sane  progress. 

There  are  the  sentimental,  unseasoned,  intolerant,  and  cock- 
sure "advanced  thinkers,"  claiming  leave  to  set  the  world  by 
the  ears  and,  with  their  strident  and  ceaseless  voices,  to  drown 
the  views  of  those  who  are  too  busy  doing  to  indulge  in  much 
talking. 

There  are  the  self-seeking  demagogues  and  various  related 
types.  And  finally  there  are  the  preachers  and  devotees  of 
liberty  run  amuck_,  who  in  fanatical  obsession  would  place  a 
visionary  and  narrow  class  interest  and  a  sloppy  internation- 
alism above  patriotism  and  with  whom  class  hatred  and  envy 
have  become  a  ruling  passion.  They  are  perniciously,  cease- 
lessly, and  vociferously  active,  though  constituting  but  a  small 
minority  of  the  people  and  though  every  election  and  other 
test  has  proved,  fortunately,  that  they  are  not  representative  of 
labor,  either  organized  or  unorganized. 

Among  these  agitators  and  disturbers  who  dare  clamorously 
to  assail  the  majestic  and  beneficent  structure  of  American  tra- 
ditions, doctrines,  and  institutions,  there  are  some,  far  too 
many,  indeed, — I  say  it  with  deep  regret,  being  myself  of 
foreign  birth,— who  are  of  foreign  parentage  or  descent.  With 
many  hundreds  of  thousands  they  or  their  parents  came  to  our 
free  shores  from  lands  of  oppression  and  persecution.  The  great 
republic  generously  gave  them  asylum  and  opened  wide  to  them 
the  portals  of  her  freedom  and  her  opportunities. 

The  great  bulk  of  these  newcomers  have  become  loyal  and 
enthusiastic  Americans.  Most  of  them  have  proved  themselves 
useful  and  valuable  elements  in  our  many-rooted  population. 
Some  of  them  have  accomplished  eminent  achievements  in 


128     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

science,  industry,  and  the  arts.  Certain  of  the  qualities  and 
talents  which  they  contribute  to  the  common  stock  are  of 
great  worth  and  promise. 

When  the  great  test  of  the  war  came,  the  overwhelming 
majority  of  them  rang  wholly  and  finely  true.  The  casualty 
lists  are  eloquent  testimony  to  the  patriotic  devotion  of  ''  the 
children  of  the  crucible,"  doubly  eloquent  because  many  of 
them  fought  against  their  own  kith  and  kin. 

But  some  there  are  who  have  been  blinded  by  the  glare  of 
liberty  as  a  man  is  blinded  who  after  long  confinement  in 
darkness  comes  suddenly  into  the  strong  sunlight.  Blinded, 
they  dare  to  aspire  to  force  their  guidance  upon  Americans, 
who  for  generations  have  walked  in  the  light  of  liberty. 

They  have  become  drunk  with  the  strong  wine  of  freedom, 
these  men  who  until  they  landed  on  America's  coasts  had  tasted 
little  but  the  bitter  water  of  tyranny.  Drunk,  they  presume 
to  impose  their  reeling  gait  upon  Americans,  to  whom  freedom 
has  been  a  pure  and  refreshing  fountain  for  a  century  and 
a  half. 

Brooding  in  the  gloom  of  age-long  oppression,  they  have 
evolved  a  fantastic  and  distorted  image  of  free  government. 
In  fatuous  effrontery  they  seek  to  graft  the  growth  of  their 
stunted  vision  upon  the  splendid  and  ancient  tree  of  American 
institutions. 

Admitted  in  generous  trust  to  the  hospitality  of  America, 
they  grossly  violate  not  only  the  dictates  of  common  gratitude 
but  of  those  elementary  rules  of  respect  and  consideration 
which  immemorial  custom  imposes  upon  the  newcomer  or  guest. 
They  seek,  indeed,  to  uproot  the  foundations  of  the  very  house 
which  gave  them  shelter. 

We  will  not  have  it  so,  we  who  are  Americans  by  birth  or 
by  adoption.  We  reject  these  impudent  pretensions.  By  all 
means  let  us  move  forward  and  upward,  but  let  us  proceed  by 
the  chart  of  reason,  experience,  and  tested  American  princi- 
ples and  doctrines,  and  let  us  not  intrust  our  ship  to  dema- 
gogues, visionaries,  or  shallow  sentimentalists  who  most 
assuredly  would  steer  it  on  the  rocks. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  129 

When  you  once  leave  the  level  road  of  Americanism  to  set 
foot  upon  the  incline  of  Socialism,  it  is  no  longer  in  your  power 
to  determine  where  you  will  stop.  It  is  an  axiom  only  too  well 
attested  by  the  experience  of  the  past^  that  the  principal  ele- 
ments of  the  established  order  of  civilization  (of  which  the 
institution  of  private  property  is  one)  are  closely  interrelated. 
If  you  tolerate  grave  infringement  upon  any  of  these  elements, 
all  history  shows  that  you  will  have  laid  open  to  assault  the 
foundations  of  personal  liberty,  of  orderly  processes  of  govern- 
ment, of  justice  and  tolerance,  as  well  as  the  institution  of 
marriage,  the  sanctity  of  the  home,  and  the  principles  and 
practices  of  religion. 

The  strident  voices  of  the  fomenters  of  unrest  do  not  cause 
me  any  serious  apprehension,  but  we  must  not  sit  silently  by, 
we  must  not  look  on  inactively.  Where  there  are  grievances  to 
redress,  where  there  are  wrongs  existing,  we  must  all  aid  in 
trying  to  right  them  to  the  best  of  our  conscience  and  ability. 

To  the  extent  that  social  and  economic  institutions,  however 
deep  and  ancient  their  roots,  may  be  found  to  stand  in  the  way 
of  the  highest  achievable  level  of  social  justice  and  the  widest 
attainable  extension  of  opportunity,  welfare,  and  contentment, 
they  will  have  to  submit  to  change.  And  the  less  obstructive 
and  stubborn,  and  more  broad-minded,  cooperative,  sympathetic, 
and  disinterested  those  who  preeminently  prospered  under 
the  old  conditions  will  prove  themselves  in  meeting  the  spirit 
of  the  new  day  and  the  reforms  which  it  may  justly  call  for, 
the  better  it  will  be  both  for  them  and  for  the  community  at 
large. 

But  to  the  false  teaching  and  the  various  pernicious  "isms" 
with  which  un-Americans,  50  per  cent  Americans,  or  anti- 
Americans  are  flooding  the  country,  we  must  give  battle 
through  an  organized,  persistent,  patient,  nation-wide  cam- 
paign of  education,  of  information,  of  sane  and  sound  doctrine. 
The  masses  of  the  American  people  want  what  is  right  and 
fair,  but  they  "want  to  be  shown."  They  will  not  simply  take 
our  v;ord  for  it  that  because  a  thing  is  so  and  has  always  been 
so,  therefore  it  should  remain  so.    They  do  not  mean  to  stand 


130     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

still.  They  want  progress.  They  have  no  use  for  the  stand- 
patter and  reactionary. 

Even  before  the  war  a  great  stirring  and  ferment  was  going 
on  in  the  land.  The  people  w^ere  groping,  seeking  for  a  new  and 
better  condition  of  things.  The  war  has  intensified  that  move- 
ment. It  has  torn  great  fissures  in  the  ancient  structure  of  our 
civilization.  To  restore  it  will  require  the  cooperation  of  all 
patriotic  men  of  sane  and  temperate  views,  whatever  may  be 
their  occupation  or  calling  or  political  affiliations. 

It  cannot  be  restored  just  as  it  was  before.  The  building 
must  be  rendered  more  habitable  and  attractive  to  those  whose 
claim  for  adequate  houseroom  cannot  be  left  unheeded,  either 
justly  or  safely.  Some  changes,  essential  changes,  must  be 
made.  I  have  no  fear  of  the  outcome  and  of  the  readjustment 
which  must  come.  I  have  no  fear  of  the  forces  of  freedom  un- 
less they  be  ignored,  repressed^  or  falsely  or  selfishly  led. 

Changes  the  American  people  will  make  as  their  needs  be- 
come apparent ;  improvements  they  welcome ;  the  greatest 
attainable  well-being  lor  all  those  under  our  national  rooftree 
is  their  aim.  They  will  strive  to  realize  what  formerly  were 
considered  unattainable  ideals.  But  they  will  do  all  that  in 
the  American  way — of  sane  and  orderly  progress — and  in 
no  other. 

Whatever  betide  in  European  countries,  this  nation  will  not 
be  torn  from  its  ancient  moorings.  Against  foes  within  no  less 
than  against  enemies  without,  the  American  people  will  ever 
know  how  to  preserve  and  protect  the  splendid  structure  of 
light  and  order  which  is  the  treasured  inheritance  of  all  those 
who  rightfully  bear  the  name  Americans,  whatever  their  race 
and  origin. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  131 

THE  IMMIGR.\NT'S  VIEWPOINT  ^ 

Randolph   S.   Bourne 

[Randolph  S.  Bourne  (1886-1918)  was  educated  at  Columbia 
University  and  had  traveled  and  studied  in  Europe.  He  was  one  of 
the  most  important  of  the  younger  contributors  to  American  maga- 
zines on  social  and  pohtical  movements  and  on  education.  His 
most  important  books  are  "Youth  and  Life"  (1913)  and  "Educa- 
tion and  Living"  (1917).  The  pages  below  are  part  of  a  stimu- 
lating discussion  on  the  assimilation  of  the  immigrant  into  American 
life,  which  has  come  to  be  referred  to  as  "the  melting  pot."] 

Mary  Antin  is  right  when  she  looks  upon  our  foreign-born 
as  the  people  who  missed  the  Mayflower  and  came  over  on 
the  first  boat  they  could  find.  We  are  all  foreign-born  or  the 
descendants  of  foreign-born,  and  if  distinctions  are  to  be  made 
between  us  they  should  rightly  be  on  some  other  ground  than 
indigenousness.  The  early  colonists  came  over  with  motives  no 
less  colonial  than  the  later.  They  did  not  come  to  be  assimi- 
lated in  an  American  melting  pot.  They  did  not  come  to 
adopt  the  culture  of  the  American  Indian.  They  had  not  the 
smallest  intention  of  '^giving  themselves  without  reservation" 
to  the  new  country.  They  came  to  get  freedom  to  live  as 
they  wanted  to.  They  came  to  escape  from  the  stifling  air 
and  chaos  of  the  Old  World  ;  they  came  to  make  their  fortune 
in  a  new  land.  They  invented  no  new  social  framework. 
Rather  they  brought  over  bodily  the  old  ways  to  which  they 
had  been  accustomed.  Tightly  concentrated  on  a  hostile  fron- 
tier, they  were  conservative  beyond  belief.  Their  pioneer  dar- 
ing was  reserved  for  the  objective  conquest  of  material  resources. 
In  their  folkways,  in  their  social  and  political  institutions,  they 
were,  like  every  colonial  people,  slavishly  imitative  of  the 
mother  country.  So  that,  in  spite  of  the  "Revolution,"  our 
whole  legal  and  political  system  remained  more  English  than 
the  English,  petrified  and  unchanging,  while  in  England  law 
developed  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  changing  times. 

^From  the  dilm^k  Monthly,  July,  1916.    Reprinted  by  permission. 


132  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

It  is  just  this  English-American  conservatism  that  has  been 
our  chief  obstacle  to  social  advance.  We  have  needed  the 
new  peoples — the  order  of  the  German  and  Scandinavian,  the 
turbulence  of  the  Slav  and  Hun — to  save  us  from  our  own 
stagnation.  I  do  not  mean  that  the  illiterate  Slav  is  now  the 
equal  of  the  New  Englander  of  pure  descent.  He  is  raw  ma- 
terial to  be  educated,  not  into  a  New  Englander  but  into  a 
socialized  American  along  such  lines  as  those  thirty  nation- 
alities are  being  educated  in  the  amazing  schools  of  Gary.  I 
do  not  believe  that  this  process  is  to  be  one  of  decades  of 
evolution.  The  spectacle  of  Japan's  sudden  jump  from  medie- 
valism to  post-modernism  should  have  destroyed  that  supersti- 
tion. We  are  not  dealing  with  individuals  who  are  to  "  evolve." 
We  are  dealing  with  their  children,  who,  with  that  education 
we  are  about  to  have,  will  start  level  with  all  of  us.  Let  us 
cease  to  think  of  ideals  like  democracy  as  magical  qualities 
inherent  in  certain  peoples.  Let  us  speak,  not  of  inferior  races 
but  of  inferior  civilizations.  We  are  all  to  educate  and  to  be 
educated.  These  peoples  in  America  are  in  a  common  enter- 
prise. It  is  not  what  we  are  now  that  concerns  us,  but  what 
this  plastic  next  generation  may  become  in  the  light  of  a  new, 
cosmopolitan  ideal. 

If  we  come  to  find  this  point  of  view  plausible  we  shall 
have  to  give  up  the  search  for  our  native  "American"  cul- 
ture. With  the  exception  of  the  South  and  that  New  England 
which,  like  the  Red  Indian,  seems  to  be  passing  into  solemn 
oblivion,  there  is  no  distinctively  American  culture.  It  is  ap- 
parently our  lot  rather  to  be  a  federation  of  cultures.  This 
we  have  been  for  half  a  century,  and  the  war  has  made  it  ever 
more  evident  that  this  is  what  we  are  destined  to  remain.  This 
will  not  mean,  however,  that  there  are  not  expressions  of 
indigenous  genius  that  could  not  have  sprung  from  any  other 
soil.  Music,  poetry,  philosophy,  have  been  singularly  fertile 
and  new.  Strangely  enough,  American  genius  has  flared  forth 
just  in  those  directions  which  are  least  "  understanded  of  the 
people."  If  the  American  note  is  bigness,  action,  the  objec- 
tive as  contrasted  with  the  reflective  life,  where  is  the  epic 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  133 

expression  of  this  spirit?  Our  drama  and  our  fiction,  the  pe- 
culiar fields  for  the  expression  of  action  and  objectivity,  are 
somehow  exactly  the  fields  of  the  spirit  which  remain  poor  and 
mediocre.  American  materialism  is  in  some  way  inhibited  from 
getting  into  impressive  artistic  form  its  own  energy,  with  which  it 
bursts.  Nor  is  it  any  better  in  architecture,  the  least  romantic 
and  subjective  of  all  the  arts.  We  are  inarticulate  of  the  very 
values  which  we  profess  to  idealize.  But  in  the  finer  forms 
—  music,  verse,  the  essay,  philosophy — the  American  genius 
puts  forth  work  equal  to  any  of  its  contemporaries.  Just  in 
so  far  as  our  American  genius  has  expressed  the  pioneer  spirit, 
the  adventurous,  forward-looking  drive  of  a  colonial  empire,  is 
it  representative  of  that  whole  America  of  the  many  races  and 
peoples  and  not  of  any  partial  or  traditional  enthusiasm.  And 
only  as  that  pioneer  note  is  sounded  can  we  really  speak  of 
the  American  culture.  As  long  as  we  thought  of  Americanism 
in  terms  of  the  "melting  pot,"  our  American  cultural  tradition 
lay  in  the  past.  It  was  something  to  which  the  new  Americans 
were  to  be  molded.  In  the  light  of  our  changing  ideal  of  Ameri- 
canism, we  must  perpetrate  the  paradox  that  our  American 
cultural  tradition  lies  in  the  future.  It  will  be  what  we  all 
together  make  out  of  this  incomparable  opportunity  of  attack- 
ing the  future  with  a  new  key. 

The  failure  of  the  melting  pot,  far  from  closing  the  great 
American  democratic  experiment,  means  that  it  has  only  just 
begun.  Whatever  American  nationalism  turns  out  to  be,  we 
see  already  that  it  will  have  a  color  richer  and  more  exciting 
than  our  ideal  has  hitherto  encompassed.  In  a  world  which 
has  dreamed  of  internationalism  we  find  that  we  have  all  una- 
wares been  building  up  the  first  international  nation.  The 
voices  which  have  cried  for  a  tight  and  jealous  nationalism  of 
the  European  pattern  are  failing.  From  that  ideal — however 
valiantly  and  disinterestedly  it  has  been  set  for  us — time  and 
tendency  have  moved  us  farther  and  farther  away.  What  we 
have  achieved  has  been  rather  a  cosmopolitan  federation  of 
national  colonies,  of  foreign  cultures,  from  whom  the  sting 
of  devastating  competition  has   been  removed.     America  is 


134     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

already  the  world  federation  in  miniature,  the  continent  where  for 
the  first  time  in  history  has  been  achieved  that  miracle  of  hope, 
the  peaceful  living  side  by  side,  with  character  substantially 
preserved,  of  the  most  heterogeneous  peoples  under  the  sun. 
Nowhere  else  has  such  contiguity  been  anything  but  the  breeder 
of  misery.  Here,  notwithstanding  our  tragic  failures  of  adjust- 
ment, the  outlines  are  already  too  clear  not  to  give  us  a  new 
vision  and  a  new  orientation  of  the  American  mind  in  the  world. 
It  is  for  the  American  of  the  younger  generation  to  accept 
this  cosmopolitanism,  and  carry  it  along  with  self-conscious 
and  fruitful  purpose.  In  his  colleges  he  is  already  getting,  with 
the  study  of  modern  history  and  politics,  the  modern  literatures, 
economic  geography^  the  privilege  of  a  cosmopolitan  outlook 
such  as  the  people  of  no  other  nation  of  today  in  Europe  can 
possibly  secure.  If  he  is  still  a  colonial  he  is  no  longer  the 
colonial  of  one  partial  culture,  but  of  many.  He  is  a  colonial 
of  the  world.  Colonialism  has  grown  into  cosmopolitanism,  and 
his  motherland  is  no  one  nation,  but  all  who  have  anything  life- 
enhancing  to  offer  to  the  spirit.  That  vague  sympathy  which 
the  France  of  ten  years  ago  was  feeling  for  the  world — a  sym- 
pathy which  was  drowned  in  the  terrible  reality  of  war — may 
be  the  modern  American's,  and  that  in  a  positive  and  aggres- 
sive sense.  If  the  American  is  parochial,  it  is  in  sheer  wanton- 
ness or  cowardice.  His  provincialism  is  the  measure  of  his  fear 
of  bogies  or  the  defect  of  his  imagination. 


"AMERICANIZATION "—A  DEFINITION ^ 

Walter  E.  Weyl 

[Walter  Edward  Weyl  (1873-1919)  studied  political  economy 
at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  and  at  various  German  univer- 
sities. He  had  conducted  economic  investigations  for  various  gov- 
ernment bureaus  and  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  periodicals  upon 
subjects  connected  with  American  development.  From  1914  to 
191 6  he  was  one  of  the  editors  of  the  New  Republic.  The  discus- 
sion here  given  was  originally  entitled  "New  Americans."] 

iFrom  Harper's  Magazine,  September,  1914.   Reprinted  by  permission. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  135 

We  must  not  forget  that  the  men  and  women  who  file 
through  the  narrow  gates  at  Ellis  Island,  hopeful,  confused, 
with  bundles  of  misconceptions  as  heavy  as  the  great  sacks 
upon  their  backs — we  must  not  forget  that  these  simple,  rough- 
handed  people  are  the  ancestors  of  our  descendants,  the  fathers 
and  mothers  of  our  children. 

So  it  has  been  from  the  beginning.  For  a  century  a  swelling 
human  stream  has  poured  across  the  ocean,  fleeing  from  pov- 
erty in  Europe  to  a  chance  in  America.  Englishman,  Welsh- 
man, Scotchman,  Irishman  ;  German,  Swede,  Norwegian,  Dane  ; 
Jew,  Italian,  Bohemian,  Serb  ;  Syrian,  Hungarian,  Pole,  Greek 
— one  race  after  another  has  knocked  at  our  doors,  been  given 
admittance,  has  married  us  and  begot  our  children.  We  could 
not  have  told  by  looking  at  them  whether  they  were  to  be  good 
or  bad  progenitors,  for  racially  the  cabin  is  not  above  tlie  steer- 
age, and  dirt,  like  poverty  and  ignorance,  is  but  skin-deep. 
A  few  hours,  and  the  stain  of  travel  has  left  the  immigrant's 
cheek ;  a  few  years,  and  he  loses  the  odor  of  alien  soils ;  a 
generation  or  two,  and  these  outlanders  are  irrevocably  our 
race,  our  nation,  our  stock. 

That  stock,  a  little  over  a  century  ago,  was  almost  pure 
British.  True,  Albany  was  Dutch,  and  many  of  the  signs  in  the 
Philadelphia  streets  were  in  the  German  language.  Neverthe- 
less, five  sixths  of  all  the  family  names  collected  in  1790  by  the 
census  authorities  were  pure  English,  and  over  nine  tenths 
(90.2  per  cent)  were  British.  Despite  the  presence  of  Ger- 
mans, Dutch,  French,  and  negroes,  the  American  was  essen- 
tially an  Englishman  once  removed,  an  Englishman  stuffed  with 
English  traditions,  prejudices,  and  stubbornnesses,  reading 
English  books,  speaking  English  dialects,  practicing  English 
law  and  English  evasions  of  the  law,  and  hating  England  with 
a  truly  English  hatred.  In  all  but  a  political  sense  America 
was  still  one  of  "his  Majesty's  dominions  beyond  the  sea." 
Even  after  immigration  poured  in  upon  us,  the  English  stock 
was  strong  enough  to  impress  upon  the  immigrating  races 
its  language,  laws,  and  customs.  Nevertheless  the  incoming 
millions  profoundly  altered  our  racial  structure.  Today  over 
thirty-two  million  Americans  are  either  foreign-born  or  of  foreign 


136  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

parentage.  No  longer  an  Anglo-Saxon  cousin,  America  has  be- 
come the  most  composite  of  nations. 

We  cannot  help  seeing  that  such  a  vast  transfusion  of  blood 
must  powerfully  affect  the  character  of  the  American.  What 
that  influence  is  to  be,  however,  whether  for  better  or  for  worse, 
is  a  question  more  baffling.  Our  optimists  conceive  the  future 
American,  the  child  of  this  infinite  intermarrying,  as  a  glori- 
fied, synthetical  person,  replete  with  the  best  qualities  of  all 
component  races.  He  is  to  combine  the  sturdiness  of  the 
Bulgarian  peasant,  the  poetry  of  the  Pole,  the  vivid  artistic 
perceptions  of  the  Italian,  the  Jew's  intensity,  the  German's 
thoroughness,  the  Irishman's  verve,  the  tenacity  of  the  English- 
man, with  the  initiative  and  versatility  of  the  American.  The 
pessimist,  on  the  other  hand,  fears  the  worst.  America,  he  be- 
lieves, is  committing  the  unpardonable  sin ;  is  contracting  a 
mesalliance,  grotesque  and  gigantic.  We  are  diluting  our  blood 
with  the  blood  of  lesser  breeds.  We  are  suffering  adulteration. 
The  stamp  upon  the  coin — the  flag,  the  language,  the  national 
sense — remains,  but  the  silver  is  replaced  by  lead. 

All  of  which  is  singularly  unconvincing.  In  our  own  families 
the  children  do  not  always  inherit  the  best  qualities  of  father 
and  mother,  and  we  have  no  assurance  that  the  children  of 
mixed  races  have  this  selective  gift  and  rise  superior  to  their 
parent  stocks.  Nor  do  we  know  that  they  fall  below.  We 
hear  much  concerning  "pure"  races  and  "mongrel"  races.  But 
is  there  in  all  the  world  a  pure  race  ?  The  Jew,  once  supposed 
to  be  of  Levitical  pureness,  is  now  known  to  be  racially  unor- 
thodox. The  Englishman  is  not  pure  Anglo-Saxon,  the  Ger- 
man is  not  Teutonic,  the  Russian  is  not  Slav.  To  be  mongrel 
may  be  a  virtue  or  a  vice.  We  do  not  know.  The  problem  is 
too  subtle,  too  elusive,  and  we  have  no  approved  receipts  in 
this  vast  eugenic  kitchen.  Intermarrying  will  go  on,  whether 
we  like  it  or  loathe  it,  for  love  laughs  at  racial  barriers,  and 
the  maidens  of  one  nation  look  fair  to  the  youth  of  another. 
Let  the  kettle  boil,  and  let  us  hope  for  the  best. 

But  the  newcomer  brings  with  him  more  than  his  potential 
parenthood,  and  he  influences  America  and  the  American  in 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  137 

other  ways  than  by  marriage  and  procreation.  He  creates  new 
problems  of  adjustment.  He  enters  into  a  new  environment. 
He  creates  a  new  environment  for  us.  Unconsciously  but  irre- 
sistibly he  transforms  an  America  which  he  does  not  know. 
He  forces  the  native  American  to  change,  to  change  that  he 
may  feel  at  home  in  his  own  home. 

When  we  seek  to  discover  what  is  the  exact  influence  of  the 
immigrant  upon  his  new  environment,  we  are  met  with  difficul- 
ties almost  as  insurmountable  as  those  which  enter  into  the 
problem  of  the  immigrant's  influence  upon  our  common  hered- 
ity. Social  phenomena  are  difficult  to  isolate.  The  immigrant 
is  not  merely  an  immigrant ;  he  is  also  a  wage  earner,  a  city 
dweller,  perhaps  an  illiterate.  Wage  earning,  city  dwelling,  and 
illiteracy  are  all  contributing  influences.  Your  immigrant  is  a 
citizen  of  the  new  factory,  of  the  great  industrial  state,  within, 
yet  almost  overshadowing,  the  political  state.  Into  each  of  our 
problems — wages  and  labor,  illiteracy,  crime,  vice,  insanity, 
pauperism,  democracy — the  immigrant  enters. 

There  is  in  all  the  world  no  more  difficult,  no  more  utterly 
bewildering  problem  than  this  of  the  intermingling  of  races. 
Already  thirty  million  immigrants  have  arrived,  of  whom  con- 
siderably over  twenty  millions  have  remained.  To  interpret 
this  pouring  of  new,  strange  millions  into  the  old,  to  trace  its 
result  upon  the  manners,  the  morals,  the  emotional  and  intel- 
lectual reactions  of  the  Americans,  is  like  searching  out  the 
yellow  waters  of  the  Missouri  in  the  vast  flood  of  the  lower 
Mississippi.  Our  immigrating  races  are  many,  and  they  meet 
diverse  kinds  of  native  Americans  on  varying  planes  and  at 
innumerable  contact  points.  So  complex  is  the  resulting  pat- 
tern, so  multitudinous  are  the  threads  interwoven  into  so  many 
perplexing  combinations,  that  we  struggle  in  vain  to  unweave 
this  weaving.  At  best  we  can  merely  follow  a  single  color, 
noting  its  appearance  here  and  its  reappearance  there,  in  this 
vast  and  many-hued  tapestry  which  we  call  American  life. 

Fortunately  we  are  not  compelled  to  embark  upon  so  ambi- 
tious a  study.  We  are  here  concerned,  not  with  the  all-inclusive 
question  ''Is  immigration  good  or  bad?"  but  with  the  problem 


138     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

of  how  immigration  has  contributed  to  certain  broad  develop- 
ments in  the  character  and  habits  of  the  American,  and  even  to 
this  question  we  must  be  content  with  a  half  answer. 

When  we  compare  the  America  of  today  with  the  America 
of  half  a  century  ago  certain  differences  stand  out  sharply. 
America  today  is  far  richer.  It  is  also  more  stratified.  Our 
social  gamut  has  been  widened.  There  are  more  vivid  con- 
trasts, more  startling  differences,  in  education  and  in  the  gen- 
eral chances  of  life.  We  are  less  rural  and  more  urban,  losing 
the  virtues  and  the  vices,  the  excellences  and  the  stupidities,  of 
country  life,  and  gaining  those  of  the  city.  We  are  massing  in 
our  cities  armies  of  the  poor  to  take  the  place  of  country 
ne'er-do-wells  and  village  hangers-on.  We  are  more  sophisti- 
cated. We  are  more  lax  and  less  narrow.  We  have  lost  our 
earlier  frugal  simplicity  and  have  become  extravagant  and  com- 
petitively lavish.  We  have,  in  short,  created  a  new  type  of 
American,  who  lives  in  the  city,  reads  newspapers  and  even 
books,  bathes  frequently,  travels  occasionally ;  a  man  fluent 
intellectually  and  physically  restless,  ready  but  not  profound, 
intent  upon  success,  not  without  idealism  but  somewhat  dis- 
illusioned, pleasure-loving,  hard-working,  humorous.  At  the 
same  time  there  grows  a  sense  of  a  social  maladjustment,  a 
sense  of  a  failure  of  America  to  live  up  to  expectations,  and 
an  intensifying  desire  to  right  a  not  clearly  perceived  wrong. 
There  develops  a  vigorous_,  if  somewhat  vague  and  untrained, 
moral  impulse,  an  impulse  based  on  social  rather  than  indi- 
vidual ethics,  unsesthetic,  democratic,  headlong. 

Although  this  development  might  have  come  about  in  part, 
at  least,  without  immigration,  the  process  has  been  enormously 
accelerated  by  the  arrival  on  our  shores  of  millions  of  Euro- 
peans. These  men  came  to  make  a  living,  and  they  made  not 
only  their  own  but  other  men's  fortunes.  They  hastened  the 
dissolution  of  old  conditions ;  they  undermined  old  standards 
by  introducing  new ;  their  very  traditions  facilitated  the  growth 
of  that  traditionless  quality  of  the  American  mind  which  has- 
tened our  material  transformation. 

How  we  estimate  this  influence  of  the  immigrant  depends 
upon   our   definition   of   the   term.     In   a  sense   we   are   all 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  139 

immigrants,  from  the  straightest  lineal  descendant  of  Miles 
Standish  to  the  burly  "Hunkie"  unloaded  at  Ellis  Island  this 
morning  ;  from  the  men  who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower  to  the 
men  who  came  over  in  the  newest  liner.  We  may,  however, 
arbitrarily  define  immigration  as  beginning  with  1820,  the  first 
year  for  which  we  have  statistics.  Prior  to  that  date  the  trans- 
atlantic movement  was  feeble.  During  the  colonial  period  only 
a  trickling  stream  flowed  across  the  ocean.  The  Revolutionary 
War  cut  us  off  from  Europe.  England  was  hostile,  the  rest  of 
the  world  indifferent.  America  was  little  known  and  not  well 
known.  During  the  forty  years  ending  in  1820  less  than  a 
quarter  million  Europeans  came  to  America.  At  present  more 
immigrants  land  on  a  single  summer  day  than  arrived  a  century 
ago  during  a  whole  year. 

The  very  poverty  of  the  European  masses  prevented  their 
exodus.  A  ticket  for  the  hold  of  one  of  the  pitching  little  sail- 
ing vessels  cost  about  ten  pounds.  But  where  should  a  laborer 
in  those  days  find  ten  pounds  ?  Men  were  born,  grew  up,  mar- 
ried, begot  children,  and  died  at  a  ripe  old  age  without  ever 
owning  a  pound,  without  ever  touching  or  seeing  a  five-pound 
note.  To  buy  his  passage  the  emigrant  sold  himself.  He  be- 
came an  "indentured"  servant,  liable  to  a  number  of  years  of 
unpaid  labor  in  America.  This  service  was  neither  brief  nor 
easy.  Adults  usually  indentured  themselves  from  three  to  six 
years  ;  children  from  ten  to  fifteen  or  until  they  came  of  age. 
If  on  the  way  over  a  man's  parents  died  — and  this  event  was 
common  enough  —  the  orphan  served  their  time  as  well  as  his 
own.  At  Philadelphia,  at  Boston,  at  New  York,  dealers  in 
"indentured  servants"  boarded  the  boat  to  look  for  a  "likely 
boy"  or  a  not  too  old  housekeeper.  Parents  sometimes  sold 
their  children,  to  remain  free  themselves.  The  traffic,  though 
lucrative  to  the  shipowner  and  advantageous  to  the  farmer, 
pressed  hardly  on  the  poor  "indentured  servants,"  often  chained 
together  and  peddled  off  in  the  colonial  villages. 

It  is  not  strange  that  immigration  increased.  Gradually 
transportation  facilities  improved,  America  became  better 
known,  and  the  European  population  more  mobile.  Immigrants 
already  established  in  America  sent  home  money  to  permit 


140  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

other  immigrants  to  come.  The  endless  chain  began  to  revolve. 
In  1828  the  number  of  arriving  immigrants  exceeded  27,000, 
as  compared  with  less  than  8000  only  four  years  earlier.  In 
1832  another  powerful  impulse  carried  the  immigration  to 
over  60,000  annually.  During  the  next  twelve  years  immigra- 
tion maintained  itself  at  a  fairly  constant  level,  averaging 
almost  70,000  a  year.  Then  in  1845  there  came  to  the  trans- 
atlantic movement  a  stupendous  and  unprecedented  growth. 
Soon  the  200,000  mark  was  reached,  then  300,000,  and  finally, 
in  1854,  no  less  than  427,000  immigrants  arrived.  In  propor- 
tion to  our  population,  it  was  the  greatest  immigration  this 
country  has  ever  had. 

No  one  who  knew  the  state  of  Europe  need  have  wondered 
at  this  human  flood.  The  feudal  conditions  in  Germany,  which 
had  survived  the  French  Revolution  and  Napoleon,  were  at 
last  disintegrating ;  industry  was  beginning,  the  power  loom 
was  destroying  the  old  hand  weavers  ;  education  was  spreading, 
and  the  population  was  on  the  move,  intellectually  and  physi- 
cally. To  these  conditions,  making  for  a  freer-footed  peas- 
antry, a  special  occurrence  contributed.  The  bitter  winter  of 
1845  destroyed  innumerable  vineyards.  The  melting  snows 
swelled  the  Danube,  the  Elbe,  the  Main,  the  Moselle,  the 
Rhine,  devastating  the  surrounding  country.  The  potato  crop, 
the  main  resource  of  the  German  peasant,  failed  utterly,  and 
during  the  winter  of  1846  hosts  of  people  stolidly  starved. 
Those  who  had  the  means  to  leave  discovered  that  America 
was  the  one  way  out,  and  so  on  the  white  Strasburg  road  long 
lines  of  carts  began  to  make  their  way  from  Bavaria  and  Wiirt- 
temberg,  from  Baden  and  Hesse-Cassel,  to  the  nearest  seaport. 
"There  they  go  slowly  along,"  wrote  a  sympathetic  observer, 
"their  miserable  tumbrels  drawn  by  such  starved,  drooping 
beasts  that  your  only  wonder  is  how  they  can  possibly  hope  to 
reach  Havre  alive."  The  carts  were  littered  with  the  scanty 
property  of  the  emigrants,  and  "piled  on  the  top  of  all  are  the 
women  and  children,  the  sick  and  bedridden,  and  all  who  are 
too  exhausted  with  the  journey  to  walk.  One  might  take  it  for  a 
convoy  of  wounded,  the  relics  of  a  battlefield,  but  for  the  rows 
of  little  white  heads  peeping  from  beneath  the  ragged  hoods." 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  141 

If  these  German  emigrants,  these  new  adventurers,  were  poor, 
what  may  we  say  of  the  Irish,  who  in  their  fearfully  over- 
crowded island  were,  at  the  best,  on  the  verge  of  starvation  ? 
The  horrible  ravages  of  the  potato  famine  of  1846  among  the 
wretched  poor  of  Ireland  need  no  repetition.  Untold  thousands 
died  in  their  huts ;  others,  finding  no  relief  in  the  towns  con- 
gested with  starving  folk,  lay  down  in  the  streets  and  died. 
''Along  the  country  roads,"  writes  Justin  McCarthy,  "one 
met  everywhere  groups  of  gaunt,  dim-eyed  wretches,  clad  in 
miserable  old  sacking  and  wandering  aimlessly  with  some 
vague  idea  of  finding  food." 

This  was  the  impulse,  this  "vague  idea  of  finding  food," 
which  in  the  fifties  brought  millions  of  West  Europeans  across 
the  ocean.  The  voyage  was  desperate.  The  vessels,  officered 
by  ignorant,  underpaid,  and  often  brutal  captains,  and  crowded 
to  the  gunwale  with  despised  passengers,  carried  fever  in  their 
holds.  The  dead  were  consigned  to  the  sea,  the  sick  and 
stricken  were  put  off  at  New  York  or  Boston  to  fill  the  hospi- 
tals and  almshouses.  The  Germans,  some  of  whom  had  means, 
moved  in  a  never-ending  line  to  the  Western  frontier.  The  less 
mobile  Irish  were  to  a  great  extent  stranded  in  the  Eastern 
cities. 

This  immigration  was  by  no  means  cordially  welcomed. 
From  1835  on  a  strongly  antagonistic  attitude  manifested  itself 
in  the  "Native-American"  and  " Know-Nothing "  movements, 
both  of  which  were  largely  anti-Catholic  in  animus  and  political 
in  form.  The  Nativists  demanded  a  restriction  of  immigration 
and  the  appointment  of  only  native  Americans  to  political 
office.  The  "  Know-Nothing "  party,  which  arose  out  of  the 
enormous  immigration  of  the  late  forties,  elected  a  number 
of  senators  and  representatives,  but  remained  without  effect  on 
national  legislation.    Immigration  went  on  unimpeded. 

The  conditions,  however,  in  which  the  newly  arrived  immi- 
grants found  themselves,  and  the  conditions  which  they  made 
for  themselves,  were  by  no  means  all  that  might  have  been  de- 
sired. America  did  nothing  to  protect  the  newcomers,  and  the 
first  and  most  lasting  impression  which  the  alien  received  was 
often  the  lodging-house  shark  or  some  other  of  the  numerous 


142  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

exploiters  who  infested  the  landing  place  at  Castle  Garden. 
Nor  did  the  majority  of  immigrants  bring  with  them  high 
standards  of  living.  The  newcomers  from  southern  and  western 
Ireland  had  spent  their  early  lives  in  the  utmost  squalor,  in 
crowded,  wretched,  ill-lit,  ill-ventilated  hovels,  with  no  floor 
and  no  furniture,  and  no  beds  but  heaps  of  filthy  straw  or 
filthier  rags.  From  miserable  huts  of  this  sort  these  immigrants 
migrated  to  horrible  tenements  in  loathsome  American  alleys. 
The  transition  meant  no  immediate  radical  improvement  in 
their  habits. 

As  a  matter  of  history,  most  of  the  conditions  and  influences 
now  ascribed  to  immigration  were  ascribed  to  it  half  a  century 
and  more  ago.  Then,  as  now,  the  resident  had  a  prejudice 
against  the  newcomer  because  of  his  lower  standards.  Though 
the  native  refused  to  associate  with  the  alien,  he  none  the  less 
objected  to  the  latter's  isolation,  to  the  clannishness  of  the 
Irish,  and  to  the  close  congregation  of  Germans,  who  formed 
racial  clots  in  the  American  vascular  system.  It  was  com- 
plained that  these  aliens  "have  their  own  theaters,  recreations, 
amusements,  military  and  national  organizations  ;  to  a  great 
extent  their  own  schools,  churches,  and  trade  unions  ;  their  own 
newspapers  and  periodical  literature."  A  quiet  social  ostracism 
prevailed,  emphasized  from  time  to  time  by  attacks  upon 
Catholic  churches  or  German  Turner  societies,  by  persecutions 
of  foreign-born  children  in  the  schools,  and  by  occasional  vehe- 
ment denunciations  from  rostrum  and  pulpit. 

In  the  meanwhile,  however,  the  immigrant  was  quietly  being 
changed  by  America  and  was  quietly  changing  America.  After 
1854  immigration  fell  off  rapidly,  and  during  the  early  years 
of  the  Civil  War  it  dwindled  to  less  than  a  hundred  thousand 
a  year.  The  country  was  expanding  at  an  unprecedented  rate. 
The  war  absorbed  native  and  foreign-born,  and  the  growing 
West  made  its  appeal  to  all.  Industry  grew  stupendously,  the 
railroads  opened  new  territories,  and  cities  sprang  up  every- 
where. The  immigrants  were  learning  American  ways,  were 
marrying  American  wives,  were  begetting  and  rearing  American 
children.  The  son  of  the  German  or  Irish  immigrant  was  more 
American  than  the  Americans. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  143 

What  happened  in  the  forties  and  fifties  has  been  repeated 
again  and  again,  though  in  less  spectacular  form.  The  source  of 
immigration  has  changed,  but  the  impulse  has  remained  the 
same.  Hundreds  of  thousands  have  come  to  escape  religious  or 
political  persecution,  but  the  movement  of  the  millions  has  been 
an  economic  movement,  impelled  by  economic  causes  and  sub- 
ject to  economic  laws.  Immigration  ebbed  and  flowed,  declining 
after  panics  and  depressions  in  America  and  increasing  to  tor- 
rential floods  with  each  European  calamity  or  with  each  sudden 
improvement  in  American  industry.  Progress,  however,  was 
upward.  Immigrants  were  insulted,  cheated,  occasionally  mur- 
dered, but  those  who  survived  and  prospered  wrote  glowing 
letters  home,  while  the  men  who  died  from  tuberculosis  and 
dynamite  explosions  wrote  no  letters.  Year  by  year  the  inflow 
increased.  The  average  gross  immigration  during  the  years 
1905-19 1 2  was  only  a  little  under  a  million  a  year. 

A  change,  however,  has  come  over  this  movement.  Of  the 
total  immigration  from  1820  to  i860,  over  one  half  was  British 
and  Irish  and  over  one  fourth  German.  Since  1881  our  immi- 
grants have  come  chiefly  from  southern  and  eastern  Europe. 
Today  there  climb  out  of  the  ship's  steerage  Italians,  Greeks, 
Bohemians,  Li'thuanians,  Poles,  Magyars^  Russians,  Hebrews, 
Syrians,  Armenians,  Turks,  Croatians,  Slovenians,  Slovaks, 
Serbians,  Rumanians,  Bulgarians,  Montenegrins,  Dalmatians, 
Bosnians,  and  Herzegovinians.  Improved  transportation  and 
improved  conditions  in  Europe  have  contributed  to  this  devel- 
opment. We  could  not  have  expected  many  more  immigrants 
from  Ireland.  That  country's  population  is  less  than  five  years 
of  our  total  inflow ;  if  all  our  immigrants  were  to  come  from 
Ireland  not  a  soul  would  be  left  by  the  year  1918.  Sweden's 
population  is  that  of  New  York  City  ;  Norway's  that  of  Chi- 
cago. We  could  empty  both  countries  in  a  decade.  Germany's 
large  population  grew,  but  conditions  there  improved  so 
rapidly  that  the  empire  attracted  immigrants.  Eastern  and 
southern  Europe,  on  the  other  hand,  are  awakening.  The  rail- 
road, trolley,  newspaper,  telegraph,  telephone,  invade  the  in- 
terior. Men  begin  to  move.  The  attraction  of  America  reaches 
ever  farther.    Today  the  peasant  in  Dalmatia^  Syria,  Basilicata, 


144  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

is  nearer  America,  knows  more  about  us,  than  did  the  man 
from  Galway  or  Bavaria  half  a  centurj^  ago.  The  Italian  in 
New  York  City  goes  to  a  moving-picture  theater  on  Elizabeth 
Street  and  sees  on  the  screen  the  faces  of  friends  who,  a  few 
months  before,  embarked  from  Naples  for  the  Tripolitan  war. 
For  a  few  "soldi"  an  urchin  of  Palermo  actually  sees  "Little 
Italy." 

That  is  the  history  of  our  immigration,  a  coming  together  oi 
the  New  and  the  Old  World.  The  attraction  of  America  pene- 
trates ever  deeper  into  Europe,  from  the  maritime  peoples  liv- 
ing on  the  fringe  of  the  ocean,  to  the  inland  plains,  and  then 
into  somnolent,  winter-locked  mountain  villages.  Simultane- 
ously Europe  changes  America.  You  can  alter  any  country  if 
you  pour  in  enough  millions.  These  immigrants,  moreover,  are 
of  a  character  to  effect  changes.  America's  attraction  is  not  to 
the  good  or  to  the  bad,  to  the  saint  or  to  the  sinner,  but  to  the 
young,  the  aggressive,  the  restless,  the  ambitious.  The  Euro- 
peans in  America  are  chosen  men,  for  there  is  a  rigorous  selec- 
tion at  home  and  a  rigorous  selection  here,  the  discouraged  and 
defeated  returning  by  the  shipload.  These  immigrating  races 
are  virile,  tenacious,  prolific.  Each  shipload  of  newcomers 
carries  to  American  life  an  impulse  like  the  rapidly  succeeding 
explosions  of  a  gasoline  engine. 

Moreover,  these  immigrants,  peasants  at  home,  become  city 
dwellers  here.  The  city  is  the  heart  of  our  body  social.  It  is 
the  home  of  education,  amusement,  culture,  crime,  discontent, 
social  contacts ^ — and  power.  The  immigrant,  even  in  the 
gutter  of  the  city,  is  often  nearer  to  the  main  currents  of  our 
national  life  than  is  the  average  resident  of  the  country.  His 
children  are  more  literate,  more  restless,  more  wide-awake. 

With  such  numbers,  such  qualities,  and  such  a  position  within 
the  social  network,  one  might  imagine  that  the  immigrant 
would  gradually  transform  us  in  his  own  likeness.  But  no  such 
direct  influence  is  visible.  As  a  nation  we  have  not  learned  po- 
liteness, although  we  have  drawn  millions  of  immigrants  from 
the  politest  peoples  in  the  world.  Our  national  irreverence  is 
not  decreased,  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  actually  increased,  by 
the  mass  of  idols,  of  good  old  customs,  memories,  religions, 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  145 

which  come  to  us  in  the  steerage.  Nor  is  the  immigrant's  in- 
fluence in  any  way  intentional.  Though  he  hopes  that  America 
will  make  him,  the  immigrant  has  no  presumptuous  thought  of 
making  America.  To  him  America  is  a  fixed,  unchanging,  en- 
vironmental thing,  a  land  to  browse  on. 

This  very  passivity  of  the  newly  arrived  immigrant  is  the 
most  tremendous  of  influences.  The  workman  who  does  not 
join  a  union,  the  citizen  who  sends  his  immature  children  to  the 
factory,  the  man  who  does  not  become  naturalized  or  who  main- 
tains a  standard  of  living  below  an  inadequate  wage,  such  a 
one  by  contagion  and  pressure  changes  conditions  and  lowers 
standards  all  about  him,  undermining  to  the  extent  of  his 
lethargy  our  entire  social  edifice.  The  aim  of  Americanization 
is  to  combat  this  passive  influence.  Two  forces,  like  good  and 
evil,  are  opposed  on  that  long  frontier  line  where  the  immigrant 
comes  into  contact  with  the  older  resident.  The  American, 
through  self-protection,  not  love,  seeks  to  raise  the  immigrant 
to  his  economic  level ;  the  immigrant,  through  self-protection, 
not  through  knowledge,  involuntarily  accepts  conditions  which 
tend  to  drag  the  American  down  to  his.  In  this  contest  much 
that  we  ordinarily  account  virtue  is  evil ;  much  that  is  ugly  is 
good.  The  immigrant  girl  puts  on  a  corset,  exchanges  her 
picturesque  headdress  for  a  flowering  monstrosity  of  an 
American  hat,  squeezes  her  honest  peasant's  foot  into  a 
narrow,  thin-soled  American  shoe — and  behold,  it  is  good. 
It  is  a  step  toward  assimilation,  toward  a  more  expensive 
if  not  a  more  lovely  standard  of  living.  It  gives  hostages  to 
America.  It  makes  the  frenzied  saving  of  the  early  days 
impossible.  Docility,  abnegation,  and  pecuniary  abasement  are 
not  economic  virtues,  however  highly  they  may  be  rated  in 
another  category. 

In  still  other  ways  this  assimilation  alters  and  limits  the 
alien's  influence.  Much  is  lost  in  the  process.  The  immigrant 
comes  to  us  laden  with  gifts,  but  we  have  not  the  leisure  to 
take  nor  he  the  opportunity  to  tender.  The  brilliant  native 
costumes,  the  strange,  vibrant  dialects,  the  curious  mental  molds 
are  soon  faded  or  gone.  The  old  religions,  the  old  customs,  the 
traditional  manners,  the  ancient  lace,  do  not  survive  the  melting 


146  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

pot.  Assimilation,  however  necessary,  ends  the  charm  and  rare- 
ness of  our  quaint  human  importations. 

For  this  aesthetic  degeneration  the  immigrant  must  not  be 
blamed.  To  gain  himself  he  must  lose  himself.  He  must  adopt 
"our  ways."  The  Italian  day  laborer  finds  that  macaroni  and 
lettuce  are  not  a  suitable  diet  for  ten  hours'  work  on  the  sub- 
way or  the  Catskill  dam.  The  politeness  of  sunny  southern 
Europe  is  at  a  discount  in  our  scurrying,  elbowing  crowds. 
The  docility  of  the  peasant  damns  a  man  irretrievably  in  the 
struggle  to  rise,  and  conservatism  in  gentle,  outlandish  manners 
is  impossible  in  kaleidoscopic  America.  The  immigrant,  there- 
fore, accepts  our  standards  wholesale  and  indiscriminately.  He 
"goes  the  limit"  of  assimilation — slang,  clothes,  and  chewing 
gum.  He  accommodates  himself  quickly  to  that  narrow  fringe 
of  America  which  affects  him  most  immediately.  The  Talmud- 
ist  in  Russia  is,  for  better  or  worse,  no  Talmudist  here ;  he  is 
a  cloak  presser  or  a  real-estate  broker.  The  Greek  shepherd 
becomes  an  elevator  boy  or  a  hazardous  speculator  in  resus- 
citated violets.  The  Sicilian  bootblack  learns  to  charge  ten 
cents  for  a  five-cent  shine  ;  the  candy  vender  from  Macedonia 
haggles  long  before  he  knows  a  hundred  English  words ;  the 
Pole  who  never  has  seen  a  coal  mine  becomes  adept  at  the  use 
of  the  steam  shovel. 

Another  limit  to  the  immigrant's  influence  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  America  to  which  he  adapts  himself  is  the  Amer- 
ica that  he  first  meets,  the  America  at  the  bottom.  That  bot- 
tom changes  as  America  changes  from  an  agricultural  to  an 
industrial  nation.  For  the  average  immigrant  there  is  no  longer 
a  free  farm  on  a  Western  frontier;  there  is  only  a  job  as  an 
unskilled  or  semiskilled  workman.  For  that  job  a  knowledge 
of  his  letters  is  not  absolutely  necessary.  Nor  is  a  knowledge 
of  English.  There  are  in  America  today  a  few  millions  of  aliens 
who  cannot  speak  English  or  read  or  write  their  native  tongue 
and  who,  from  an  industrial  point  of  view,  are  almost  mere 
muscle.  The  road  from  bottom  to  top  becomes  steeper  and 
more  inaccessible.    Stratification  begins. 

Because  of  his  position  at  the  bottom  of  a  stratified  society, 
the  immigrant — especially   the   recent   immigrant — does  not 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  147 

exert  any  large  direct  influence.  Taken  in  the  mass,  he  does 
not  run  our  businesses,  make  our  laws,  write  our  books,  paint 
our  pictures,  preach  to  us,  teach  us,  or  prescribe  for  us.  His 
indirect  influence,  on  the  other  hand,  is  increased  rather  than 
diminished  by  his  position  at  the  bottom  of  the  structure.  When 
he  moves,  all  superincumbent  groups  must  of  necessity  shift 
their  positions.  This  indirect  influence  is  manifold.  The  immi- 
gration of  enormous  numbers  of  unskilled  ''interchangeable" 
laborers,  who  can  be  moved  about  like  pawns,  standardizes 
our  industries,  facilitates  the  growth  of  stupendous  business 
units,  and  generally  promotes  plasticity.  The  immigrant,  by 
his  mere  presence,  by  his  mere  readiness  to  be  used,  speeds 
us  up ;  he  accelerates  the  whole  tempo  of  our  industrial  life. 
He  changes  completely  "the  balance  of  power"  in  industry, 
politics,  and  social  life  generally.  The  feverish  speed  of  our 
labor,  which  is  so  largely  pathological,  is  an  index  of  this. 
The  arrival  of  ever-fresh  multitudes  adds  to  the  difficulties  of 
securing  a  democratic  control  of  either  industry  or  politics. 
The  presence  of  the  unskilled^  unlettered  immigrant  excites  the 
cupidity  of  men  who  wish  to  make  money  quickly  and  do  not 
care  how.  It  makes  an  essentially  kind-hearted  people  callous. 
Why  save  the  lives  of  "wops"  ?  What  does  it  matter  if  our  in- 
dustry kills  a  few  thousands  more  or  less,  when,  if  we  wish,  we 
can  get  millions  a  year  from  inexhaustible  Europe?  Immi- 
gration acts  to  destroy  our  brakes.  It  keeps  us,  as  a  nation, 
transitional. 

Of  course  this  transitional  quality  of  America  was  due  partly 
to  our  virgin  continent.  There  was  always  room  in  the  West ; 
a  man  did  not  settle,  but  merely  lighted  on  a  spot,  like  a  migra- 
tory bird  on  its  southern  journey.  Immigration,  however,  in- 
tensified and  protracted  this  development.  Each  race  had  to 
fight  for  its  place.  Natives  were  displaced  by  Irish,  who  were 
displaced  in  turn  by  Germans,  Russians,  Italians,  Portuguese, 
Greeks,  Syrians.  Whole  trades  were  deserted  by  one  nation 
and  conquered  by  another.  The  peoples  of  eastern  Europe  in- 
undated the  Pennsylvania  mining  districts,  displacing  Irish, 
English,  and  Welsh  miners.  The  Irish  street  laborer  disap- 
peared ;   the  Italian  quietly  took  his  shovel.     Russian  Jews 


148     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

revolutionized  the  clothing  trade,  driving  out  Germans  as  these 
had  driven  out  native  Americans.  The  old  homes  of  displaced 
nations  were  inhabited  by  new  peoples ;  the  old  peoples  were 
shoved  up  or  down,  but,  in  any  case,  out.  Cities,  factories, 
neighborhoods,  changed  with  startling  rapidity.  Connecticut 
schools,  once  attended  by  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims,  became 
overfilled  with  dark-eyed  Italian  lads  and  tow-headed  Slavs. 
Protestant  churches  were  stranded  in  Catholic  or  Jewish  neigh- 
borhoods. America  changed  rapidly,  feverishly.  That  peculiar, 
quiet  restlessness  of  America,  the  calm  fear  with  which  we 
search  with  the  tail  of  our  eye  to  avoid  swirling  automobiles, 
the  rush  and  recklessness  of  our  life,  were  increased  by  the 
mild,  law-abiding  people  who  came  to  us  from  abroad. 

There  was  a  time  when  all  these  qualities  were  good,  or  at 
least  had  their  good  features.  So  long  as  we  had  elbowroom 
in  the  West,  so  long  as  we  were  young  and  growing,  with  a  big 
continent  to  make  our  mistakes  in,  even  recklessness  was  a 
virtue.  But  today  America  is  no  longer  elastic,  the  road  from 
bottom  to  top  is  not  so  short  and  not  so  unimpeded  as  it  once 
was.  We  cannot  any  longer  be  sure  that  the  immigrant  will 
find  his  proper  place  in  our  Eastern  mills  or  on  our  Western 
farms  without  injury  to  others — or  to  himself. 

The  time  has  passed  when  we  exulted  in  the  number  of 
grown-up  men,  bred  at  another  country's  expense,  who  came 
to  work  for  us  and  fertilize  our  soils  with  their  dead  bones. 
The  time  has  passed  when  we  believed  that  mere  numbers  were 
all.  Today,  despite  night  schools,  settlements,  and  a  whole 
network  of  Americanizing  agencies,  we  have  teeming,  polyglot 
slums  and  the  clash  of  race  with  race  in  sweatshop  and  factory, 
mine  and  lumber  camp.  We  have  a  mixture  of  ideals,  a  confu- 
sion of  standards,  a  conglomeration  of  clashing  views  of  life. 
We,  the  many-nationed  nation  of  America,  bring  the  Puritan 
tradition,  a  trifle  anaemic  and  thin,  a  little  the  worse  for  disuse. 
The  immigrant  brings  a  Babel  of  traditions,  an  all  too  plastic 
mind,  a  willingness  to  copy  our  virtues  and  vices,  to  imitate 
us  for  better  or  for  worse.  All  of  which  hampers  and  delays 
the  formation  of  a  national  consciousness. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  READJUSTMENT  149 

From  whatever  point  we  view  the  new  America,  we  cannot 
help  seeing  how  intimately  the  changes  have  been  bound  up 
with  our  immigration,  especially  with  that  of  recent  years.  The 
widening  of  the  social  gamut  becomes  more  significant  when 
we  recall  that  with  unrestricted  immigration  our  poorest  citi- 
zens are  periodically  recruited  from  the  poor  of  the  poorest 
countries  of  Europe.  Our  differences  in  education,  while  they 
have  other  causes,  are  sharply  accentuated  by  our  enormous 
development  of  university  and  high  schools  at  the  one  end  and 
by  the  increasing  illiteracy  of  our  immigrants  at  the  other. 
In  cities  where  there  are  large  immigrant  populations  we  note 
the  beginning  of  a  change  in  our  attitude  toward  the  public 
schools,  toward  universal  suffrage,  toward  many  of  the  pious, 
if  unrealized,  national  ideals  of  an  earlier  period. 

Fundamentally,  however,  the  essential  fact  about  our  present- 
day  immigration  is  not  that  the  immigrant  has  changed 
(though  that  fact  is  of  great  importance),  but  that  the  Amer- 
ica to  which  the  immigrant  comes  has  changed  fundamentally 
and  permanently.  And  the  essential  fact  about  the  immigrant's 
effect  on  American  character  is  this,  that  the  gift  of  the  immi- 
grant to  the  nation  is  not  the  qualities  which  he  himself  had 
at  home,  but  the  very  qualities  which  Americans  have  always 
had.  In  other  words,  at  a  time  when  American  industrial, 
political,  and  social  conditions  are  changing,  partly  as  a  result 
of  immigration  itself,  the  immigrant  hampers  our  psychological 
adjustment  to  such  changes  by  giving  scope  and  exercise  to  old 
national  characteristics  which  should  be  obsolescent. 

America  today  is  in  transition.  We  have  moved  rapidly 
from  one  industrial  world  to  another,  and  this  progress  has 
been  aided  and  stimulated  by  immigration.  The  psychological 
change,  however,  which  should  have  kept  pace  with  this  indus- 
trial transition,  has  been  slower  and  less  complete.  It  has  been 
retarded  by  the  very  rapidity  of  our  immigration  and  by  the 
tremendous  educational  tasks  which  that  influx  placed  upon  us. 
The  immigrant  is  a  challenge  to  our  highest  idealism,  but  the 
task  of  Americanizing  the  extra  millions  of  newcomers  has 
hindered  progress  in  the  task  of  democratizing  America. 


IV 

EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES 

A  REVISED  DEFINITION  OF  EDUCATION^ 
Charles  William  Eliot 

[For  a  biographical  sketch  of  Charles  W.  Eliot  see  page  i] 

The  war  has  brought  to  light  the  fact  that  American  schools 
and  ordinary  American  life  for  more  than  a  hundred  years 
have  failed  to  keep  alive  one  sentiment  of  public  duty  which 
was  natural  to  the  early  American  communities  on  the  shores 
of  the  Atlantic  because  they  lived  under  the  constant  public 
dangers  and  apprehensions.  When  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  first 
planted  their  settlement  at  Plymouth,  they  took  it  for  granted 
that  every  able-bodied  man  was  to  bear  arms  in  defense  of  the 
community.  The  Puritan  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  made 
the  same  assumption ;  and  both  these  pioneering  communities 
relied  for  many  years  on  a  militia  to  which  every  able-bodied 
man  belonged  as  a  matter  of  course.  In  the  adventurous  Puri- 
tan settlements  on  the  border  the  men  carried  their  guns  with 
them  into  the  fields  where  they  worked  and  to  church  on  Sun- 
days. Every  able-bodied  man  felt  that  he  might  at  any  time 
encounter  wounds  and  death  in  defense  of  his  home  and  his 
village.    Military  service  from  him  was  the  country's  due. 

In  recent  American  generations  this  sense  of  personal  indi- 
vidual duty  to  the  country  has,  been  lost,  and  it  has  taken  a 
great  war  in  defense  of  human  liberty  to  reestablish  it.  Now 
it  is  for  the  schools  and  colleges  of  the  country  to  maintain  this 
sense  of  obligation  in  all  the  generations  to  come  by  direct  and 

1  From  the  New  York  Times,  Sunday,  November  24,  1918.  Reprinted 
by  permission. 

ISO 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES      1 51 

positive  teachings  and  by  cooperating  with  the  family  and 
church  in  training  boys  and  girls  and  young  men  and  women  to 
render  gladly  free,  unpaid  service  in  their  homes,  to  the  neigh- 
bors and  friends  whom  they  can  help,  and  to  the  stranger  within 
their  gates.  Every  secondary  school  should  give  concrete  and 
well-illustrated  instruction  in  all  the  cooperative  enterprises  in 
which  young  people  can  take  part  for  the  benefit  of  the  com- 
munity, and  in  all  the  protective  and  helpful  services  which 
young  citizens  can  render.  The  altruistic  sentiments  and  serv- 
ices should  be  set  before  the  pupils,  and  should  be  exemplified 
in  the  lives  of  their  teachers,  parents,  and  natural  leaders.  The 
influence  of  all  teachers  and  parents  should  be  steadily  exerted 
to  diminish  the  selfishness  and  self-reference  which  often  ac- 
company thoughtless  childhood,  and  to  develop  as  early  as 
possible  good  will  and  serviceableness  toward  others  and  con- 
sideration for  the  needs  of  others. 

It  should  be  made  a  special  object  in  all  schools  to  develop 
among  the  children  and  youth  what  is  called  in  sports  ''team 
play";  to  impress  all  the  pupils  with  the  high  value  of  coop- 
erative discipline,  that  is,  of  the  discipline  imposed  with  the 
consent  of  the  subjects  of  discipline  in  order  to  increase  the 
efficiency  of  the  group  and  therefore  the  satisfaction  of  every 
member  in  his  own  contribution.  This  content  in  a  strict  disci- 
pline which  he  has  a  share  in  planning  and  imposing  is  today 
the  chief  need  of  all  workmen  in  industries  which  require  punc- 
tuality, order,  system,  and  a  common  purpose  to  be  efficient  on 
the  part  of  all  concerned.  There  should  be  many  opportunities 
during  school  life  to  learn  this  enjoyable  acquiescence  in  the 
strict,  cooperative  discipline  necessary  when  many  persons  have 
to  combine  in  the  prompt  and  accurate  production  of  a  given 
effect  or  result.  Some  of  the  familiar  means  to  this  end  are 
singing  in  parts,  producing  music  in  a  band  or  orchestra,  folk- 
dancing,  combining  in  groups  to  perform  gymnastic  feats,  act- 
ing plays,  and  giving  descriptions  or  narratives  before  a  school 
audience  in  which  many  speakers  combine  to  produce  one  har- 
monious and  consecutive  story.  In  modern  warfare  a  soldier's 
work  in  an  active  army  depends  for  its  success  chiefly  upon  the 
soldier's  skill  and  satisfaction  in  action  guided  and  determined 


152     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

by  strict,  cooperative  discipline.  The  same  is  true  in  almost 
all  the  large  national  industries.  Success  in  them  involves  the 
general  submission  of  all  participants  to  a  strict,  cooperative 
discipline.  This  discipline  does  not  much  resemble  the  old- 
fashioned,  automatic,  unthinking  obedience  which  was  long  the 
ideal  in  military  and  industrial  organization.  It  requires  the 
voluntary  cooperation  of  intelligent,  free  individuals  whose 
wills  consent  to  the  discipline  for  an  object  which  seems  good 
to  them  and  in  a  method  which  they  think  reasonable  and 
appropriate.  All  schools  and  colleges  should  systematically 
provide  much  practice  in  this  kind  of  discipline. 

Because  of  the  complete  detachment  of  Church  from  State 
in  this  country,  and  the  existence  here  of  a  great  variety  of 
churches  based  on  different  dogmas  and  creeds,  or  on  different 
observances,  rituals,  rites,  and  symbols,  or  on  different  forms 
of  ecclesiastical  government, — all  of  which  are  tolerated  and 
protected  by  the  national  and  state  governments, — it  has  been 
considered  impossible  to  allow  in  the  free  schools  (which  are 
supported  by  general  taxation)  any  of  the  teachings  or  prac- 
tices ordinarily  called  religious.  A  bad  result  of  this  condi- 
tion is  that  there  has  been  in  the  public  schools  no  systematic 
inculcation  of  duty  toward  parents,  neighbors,  teachers,  friends, 
or  country,  or  of  reverence  toward  God,  although  some  practi- 
cal virtues  essential  to  the  conduct  of  a  school  have  always 
been  inculcated,  such  as  punctuality,  order,  and  respect  for  the 
neighbor  s  rights  and  for  constituted  authority.  Accordingly, 
reverence  for  prophets,  saints,  and  spiritual  heroes  has  been 
taught  only  incidentally  and  with  caution,  lest  the  religious 
sentiments  of  one  church  or  another  be  shocked. 

It  is  one  of  the  best  lessons  of  the  war  that  millions  of 
American  youth,  trained  in  schools  of  this  negative  character 
as  regards  things  spiritual, — many  of  them  were  not  connected 
with  any  church, — have  developed  in  the  presence  of  the  hard- 
ships, horrors,  and  risks  of  war  sentiments  which  may  be  prop- 
erly called  religious  and  might  be  expressly  inculcated  in 
American  public  schools. 

Most  of  the  young  men  who  have  filled  the  national  army 
and  navy  went  to  the  war  in  a  gregarious  way,  because  their 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES  153 

comrades  did,  or  because  they  were  drafted,  or  because  their 
friends  and  relatives  would  be  proud,  though  troubled,  to  have 
them  go ;  but  when  they  came  to  face  imminent  death  or 
wounds,  when  they  realized  that  at  any  moment  they  them- 
selves might  be  called  on  to  make  the  supreme  sacrifice,  many 
of  them  began  to  consider  why  they  were  in  such  a  novel  and 
horrible  situation,  and  some  of  them  found  a  satisfactory  an- 
swer to  that  question.  Innumerable  soldiers  from  many  races, 
dying,  or  realizing  in  hospitals  that  they  were  crippled  for  life, 
have  said  that  they  were  dying  or  were  crippled  for  the  sake 
of  their  country, —  France,  England,  Scotland,  America, — or 
for  their  dear  home,  or  for  their  children,  or  for  the  next  gen- 
eration, that  they  may  have  a  better  world  to  live  in  than  the 
present  generation  found  prepared  for  themselves.  Multitudes 
of  the  American  soldiers  and  sailors  in  this  war  have  perceived 
for  the  first  time  that  their  own  prime  motive  in  life  has  been 
the  desire  to  be  of  service  to  other  people,  though  they  had 
lived  the  ordinary  life  of  daily  labor  and  play,  of  family  affec- 
tion and  careless  gayety,  without  much  reflection  on  the  great 
issues  of  life  and  death  or  on  the  deep  things  of  love  and  duty. 
The  tremendous  emotions  of  battle  and  the  sense  of  comrade- 
ship which  the  sharing  of  great  dangers  and  hardships  creates 
develop  in  them  feelings  and  states  of  mind  which  may  properly 
be  called  religious.  They  learn  what  self-sacrifice  means  and 
practice  it  contentedly ;  they  learn  that  a  man  may  gladly  risk 
his  life  or  lay  it  down  for  his  friends ;  they  learn  that  service 
to  others  is  immeasurably  happier  than  thought  for  self ;  they 
hate  war  and  everything  about  it,  but  fight  on  resolutely  in 
the  hope 

That  other  generations  might  possess 

From  shame  and  menace  free  in  years  to  come 

A  richer  heritage  of  happiness, 

He  marched  to  that  heroic  martyrdom. 

They  learn  that  brotherhood  is  the  very  essence  of  practical 
religion.  A  letter  written  by  a  young  man  who  enlisted  after 
having  served  his  term  as  a  convict  in  Sing  Sing  Prison,  and 
then  had  trying  experiences  during  several  months  in  the  French 


154  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

trenches,  to  the  former  warden  of  the  prison,  who  had  been  a 
good  friend  to  him,  dealt  mostly  with  the  ordinary  tediums, 
trials,  and  hardships  of  the  private  soldier's  life,  but  this  was 
one  of  its  broken  sentences :  ''  Religion  ?  This  battalion  is  a 
band  of  brothers." 

Some  line  officer  who  has  been  intimate  with  his  men  when 
in  hospital  or  in  their  resting  places,  or  some  chaplain  who  has 
shared  with  the  privates  their  hardships  and  their  dangers  and 
written  letters  home  for  them  as  they  lay  wounded  or  dying, 
ought  to  prepare  a  manual  of  the  religion  of  the  thinking  sol- 
dier in  this  war  for  the  freedom  and  security  of  mankind.  It 
would  contain  no  dogma,  creed,  or  ritual,  and  no  church  history, 
but  it  would  set  forth  the  fundamental  religious  ideas  which 
ought  to  be  conveyed  in  the  schools  to  every  American  child 
and  adolescent  in  the  schools  of  the  future.  Such  teaching 
would  counteract  materialism,  promote  reverence  for  God  and 
human  nature,  strengthen  the  foundations  of  a  just  and  peace- 
loving  democracy,  and  conform  to  Micah's  definition  of  reli- 
gion: "What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee  but  to  do  justly, 
to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  ?  " 

The  manuals  of  American  history  for  use  in  the  public  schools 
will  hereafter  tell  how  in  19 17  the  American  people  with  re- 
markable unanimity  went  into  a  ferocious  war  of  European 
origin  in  the  hope  and  expectation  of  putting  down  divine-right 
government,  secret  diplomacy  and  militarism,  of  making  justice 
and  kindness  the  governing  principles  in  international  relations, 
and  of  promoting  among  the  masses  of  mankind  the  kind  of  lib- 
erty under  law  which  they  had  themselves  long  enjoyed.  In  con- 
tributing to  the  vigorous  and  successful  prosecution  of  this 
war  they  spent  their  money  like  water,  upset  their  industries 
and  their  habits  of  life,  laid  on  their  posterity  an  immense 
burden  of  debt,  and  put  at  risk  the  lives  of  millions  of  their 
sons  and  daughters.  At  the  same  time  they  gave  huge  sums  of 
money  to  relieve  the  miseries  and  woes  which  war  now  entails 
on  combatants  and  noncombatants  alike. 

No  great  church  and  no  single  organization  incited  the  Amer- 
ican people  to  this  disinterested  crusade.  Nevertheless,  the 
united  action   of   the  people   for   the  nineteen  months  past 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES      155 

testifies  that  they  are  guided  and  inspired  by  certain  simple 
religious  teachings  of  supreme  efficacy.  They  evidently  mean  to 
do  unto  others  as  they  wish  others  to  do  to  them,  to  love  their 
neighbors  as  themselves,  to  imitate  the  example  of  the  Good 
Samaritan  in  binding  up  the  wounds  of  mankind,  and  to  love 
truth,  freedom,  and  righteousness. 

That  is  the  religion  which  ought  to  be  taught  hereafter  in  all 
American  schools. 


THE  SOCIAL  IDEAL  IN  EDUCATION  ^ 
George  E.  Vincent 

[George  Edgar  Vincent  (1864-  )  was  educated  at  Yale  and 
has  had  much  to  do  with  the  administration  of  the  Chautauqua 
Institution,  founded  by  his  father,  Bishop  John  H.  Vincent.  While 
serving  as  professor  of  sociology  in  The  University  of  Chicago  he 
was  in  191 1  elected  president  of  the  University  of  Minnesota.  Since 
191 7  he  has  been  president  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation.  Though 
the  Commencement  address  which  follows  is  substantially  that  which 
was  delivered  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin  in  191 1,  its  charac- 
terization of  the  social  aims  of  modern  higher  education  and  its 
ringing  challenge  to  youth  for  service  to  the  commonwealth  make 
it  peculiarly  appropriate  for  study  today.] 

As  purpose  unifies  the  individual,  so  a  common  aim  gives  the 
human  group  a  sense  of  solidarity.  Social  consciousness  is  the 
well-worn  term  for  this  thrill  of  comradeship.  The  sense  of 
team  play  that  makes  the  eleven  or  the  nine  an  efficient  unit 
gives  us  the  type.  Each  individual  sees  the  group  as  a  whole, 
is  aware  of  his  own  relation  to  it,  knows  that  his  fellows  share 
his  feeling,  and  counts  upon  them  to  act  promptly  for  a  com- 
mon end.  A  group  which  cannot  control  its  members  and 
rally  them  in  loyalty  to  a  single  aim  lacks  solidarity  and 
effectiveness. 

If  the  university,  as  an  organ  of  society,  is  to  gain  strength 
of  purpose,  it  must  have  a  consciousness  of  its  function  and 
duty.  Only  by  such  sense  of  team  play  can  individuals,  depart- 
ments, schools,  colleges,  faculties,  classes,  student  groups,  be 
^From  Science,  June  30,  191 1.    Reprinted  by  permission. 


156  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

fused  into  genuine  unity  and  rallied  to  a  common  loyalty.  In 
general,  the  university  ideal  is  changing  from  the  thought  of 
personal  privilege  to  the  conception  of  social  service,  from  a 
preaching  of  personal  culture  to  a  democracy  of  studies,  or,  in 
another  phrase,  from  culture  to  efficiency.  This  does  not  mean 
that  colleges  and  universities  have  not  always  had  some  sense 
of  social  obligation.  But  too  generally  the  privileges  of  higher 
education  were  for  the  favored  few,  who,  by  virtue  of  their 
special  opportunities,  were  set  off  from  the  masses  of  men.  The 
growth  of  democracy  has  made  new  demands,  has  widened 
opportunity,  has  broken  down  the  barriers  of  class.  Even  in 
the  Old  World,  and  notably  in  the  New,  democracy  has  created 
schools,  colleges,  and  universities,  and  has  chartered  them  to 
serve  the  common  welfare.  The  university  has  become,  there- 
fore, especially  in  this  mid-Western  region,  "the  people's  or- 
ganized instrument  of  research,"  or,  as  President  Van  Hise  puts 
it,  "the  scientific  adviser  of  the  state."  On  every  hand  we 
hear  variations  of  this  central  theme  of  social  service.  College 
presidents  and  men  in  political  life,  each  group  from  its  own 
point  of  view,  insist  upon  this  conception  of  higher  education. 
In  this  view  the  university  appeals  to  the  imagination,  it  be- 
comes an  organ  of  the  higher  life  of  the  community  and  the 
state,  it  connects  itself  at  every  point  with  the  industry,  com- 
merce, social  conditions,  educational  interests,  ideal  purposes 
of  the  commonwealth. 

The  university  as  a  social  agent  is  intrusted  with  certain 
standards  of  the  community,  standards  of  scientific  method 
and  of  truth,  standards  of  technical  efficiency,  standards  of 
cultural  attainment,  standards  of  personal  character  and  of 
civic  duty.  It  is  only  through  the  creation,  the  guarding,  the 
elevation  of  these  standards  that  material  and  spiritual  prog- 
ress is  possible.  The  university  becomes  a  trustee  of  ideas  and 
ideals,  a  custodian  of  standards.  In  the  administration  of 
these  standards  the  university  cannot  sacrifice  the  common 
welfare  to  individual  need  or  desire.  It  must  exclude  those 
who  fail  to  meet  the  standards  of  attainment  and  character 
which  the  university  administers.  Favoritism,  faltering,  com- 
promise, cowardice,  mean  betrayal  of  a  social  trust.    Nor  may 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES  157 

the  standards  of  the  university  be  provincial  and  temporary. 
In  the  words  of  President  Hadley,  "the  university  must  be 
judged  by  the  standards  which  have  held  for  all  time  rather 
than  those  of  a  single  generation,  or  of  a  single  profession." 
The  imagination  kindles  at  this  thought  of  a  university  ex- 
alting the  tests  of  truth  and  character  by  which  society  slowly 
gropes  toward  higher  levels. 

When  the  mind  is  possessed  by  this  vision  of  the  university, 
all  the  careers  for  which  it  provides  training  take  on  the  dignity 
of  social  worth.  Vocations  which  have  been  thought  of  as 
individual  widen  into  literal  calls  to  be  servants  of  the  common 
life.  The  office  of  the  teacher,  the  function  of  the  physician, 
the  work  of  the  engineer,  get  their  higher  meaning  from  their 
value  to  the  community.  The  profession  of  the  law,  so  often 
thought  of  as  a  field  for  personal  exploitation,  is  in  its  true 
significance  a  social  service.  "We  lawyers,"  declares  Woodrow 
Wilson,  "are  servants  of  society,  officers  of  the  courts  of  justice 
.  .  .  guardians  of  the  public  peace,  .  .  .  bond  servants  of  the 
people."  The  scientific  farmer  is  in  one  view  seeking  personal 
gain,  but  in  a  much  deeper  sense  he  is  diffusing  knowledge  and 
skill  and  is  raising  into  higher  esteem  fundamental  industry 
which  makes  modern  society  possible.  The  college  graduate 
who  has  received  the  training  men  are  fond  of  calling  liberal 
may  no  longer  regard  himself  merely  as  a  member  of  a  privi- 
leged class.  In  the  new  spirit  of  noblesse  oblige  he  must  recog- 
nize his  obligation  to  his  fellows  and  to  the  community  ;  must 
remember  that  "life  is  not  a  cup  to  be  drained,  but  a  measure 
to  be  filled."  Such  is  the  ideal  purpose  which  summons  the 
modem  university  to  unity  and  comradeship  in  the  service 
of  the  common  life.  When  this  vision  fills  the  minds  of  all, 
when  it  controls  their  conduct,  when  it  stirs  their  emotions 
and  carries  them  steadily  forward  to  loyal  achievement,  then 
the  university  gains  an  irresistible  power  and  becomes  a  true 
expression  of  the  higher  purposes  of  the  state,  the  nation,  and 
mankind. 

The  university  fails  of  its  purpose  if  its  students  do  not 
catch  the  inspiration  of  the  common  ideal.  To  generous- 
minded  young  men  and  women  this  thought  of  the  university 


158  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

must  make  appeal.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  institution  to  fix 
this  image  of  the  university  in  the  imaginations  of  its  students. 
From  the  day  they  enter  to  the  day  they  leave,  this  dominant 
purpose,  this  persuasive  spirit,  should  grow  ever  more  potent 
and  fascinating.  It  would  be  well  if  students  could  begin  their 
college  life  with  formal  ceremony,  so  that  at  the  very  outset 
they  might  feel  more  keenly  the  social  obligations  they  are 
assuming.  Admission  to  the  university  should  seem  to  them 
initiation  into  a  high  calling.  It  is  a  pity  that  they  should 
begin  for  the  most  part  thoughtlessly  or  with  minds  fixed 
solely  upon  personal  aims  and  plans.  The  state  is  calling  them 
to  her  service.  She  has  a  right  to  insist  that  only  those  who  are 
in  earnest,  who  have  at  least  a  dawning  sense  of  social  duty, 
should  seek  admission  to  the  public  training  which  can  be 
justified  only  by  its  service  to  the  state.  It  should  be  made 
clear  that  no  one  has  the  right  to  demand  admission  as  a 
personal  privilege.  Conformity  with  technicalities  of  entrance 
must  not  blind  us  to  the  moral  obligations  involved.  Out  of 
the  common  fund  to  which  all  citizens  contribute,  the  state 
erects  and  maintains,  not  for  personal  advantage  but  for  public 
good,  this  West  Point  of  science,  the  arts,  and  the  professions. 
Ever}'  matriculant,  therefore,  by  virtue  of  admission  is  honor 
bound  to  meet  the  state  halfway  in  her  desire  to  prepare 
soldiers  of  science  for  the  battles  of  peace.  The  university 
must  unhesitatingly  rid  itself  of  individuals  who  are  indifferent 
to  intellectual  work  or  hostile  to  it.  After  fair  test,  those  who 
fail  to  show  their  sense  of  the  university's  purpose  must  be 
dismissed.  This  is  necessary  not  only  in  justice  to  the  state 
but  in  fairness  to  those  who  show  due  appreciation  of  their 
opportunities  and  duties. 

The  dominant  university  purpose  gives  a  proper  setting  to 
the  activities  of  student  life  and  to  the  standards  and  conduct 
of  the  groups  into  which  the  student  community  naturally 
falls.  The  contacts  of  daily  association  and  searching  tests  of 
comradeship,  the  discovery  and  development  of  leadership, 
the  give-and-take  of  social  intercourse,  the  healthy  recreation 
of  undergraduate  life, — all  constitute  an  environment  which 
may  afford  admirable  discipline.    There  is  large  truth  in  the 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES      159 

assertion  that  the  university  is  the  world  in  miniature  and 
that  it  offers  a  social  training  which  will  be  turned  to  account 
in  the  wider  life  of  the  community.  But  all  these  activities 
must  be  tested  by  the  dominant  purpose  of  the  university. 
The  question  must  always  be,  Is  this  or  that  out  of  harmony 
with  the  ideal  of  the  university  as  an  organ  of  the  common  life  ? 
Does  this  student  demonstration  or  that  rollicking  festivity 
create  in  the  public  mind  the  feeling  that  the  university  is 
living  for  itself  and  not  for  the  community ;  does  it  foster  the 
belief  that  the  university  is  not  dominated  by  the  motive  of 
service ;  does  it  create  the  suspicion  that  students  ignore  or 
forget  their  duty  to  the  state  which  is  making  their  self- 
preparation  possible?  This  is  a  vital  question.  So  with  the 
student  groups  that  play  so  large  a  part  in  academic  communi- 
ties. Are  these  groups  working  loyally  for  the  common  welfare, 
have  they  due  regard  for  the  fundamental  things  of  university 
life,  are  they  actuated  by  a  sense  of  responsibility  for  their 
members,  do  they  cultivate  tolerance,  justice,  and  good  will? 
These  are  questions  which  individuals  and  groups  must  con- 
stantly put  to  themselves  and  answer  frankly  and  honestly. 
The  good  name  of  the  university  is  safe  only  when  its  members 
feel  an  obligation  to  further  the  common  purpose  to  make  the 
university  a  true  organ  of  the  whole  people. 

So  long  as  this  spirit  prevails,  no  sense  of  arrogance,  of  ex- 
clusiveness,  of  privilege  or  caste,  will  enter  the  minds  of  its 
members.  The  old  distinction  of  ''town"  and  "gown,"  the 
traditional  attitude  of  superiority  toward  those  outside  the 
walls  of  the  academic  cloister,  these  things  have  no  place  in 
an  institution  dominated  by  the  spirit  of  social  service.  Every 
man  and  woman  of  the  commonwealth  becomes  in  this  view 
a  supporter  and  patron  of  the  university  and  may  expect 
from  it  good  will  and  loyal  service.  If  to  say  that  the  uni- 
versity belongs  to  the  state  is  anything  more  than  phrase- 
making,  every  member  who  has  imagination,  the  power  to  see 
the  institution  in  its  real  relationships,  must  feel  the  genuine 
humility  of  one  who  would  faithfully  serve  his  fellows. 

If  the  university  is  to  fulfill  its  function,  it  must  carry  con- 
viction to  the  people  of  the  commonwealth.    It  must  impress 


i6o  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

them  with  its  purpose,  make  them  see  it  as  a  faithful  agency 
of  the  people.  The  men  and  women  of  the  state  must  not 
think  of  the  university  as  an  institution  which,  because  it 
has  public  support,  should  lower  its  standards  to  admit  the 
weak,  indifferent,  or  incompetent,  or  to  graduate  those  who 
have  failed  to  reach  the  minimum  of  attainment.  People  must 
not  think  of  the  university  as  a  place  in  which  personal  influ- 
ences can  secure  special  privilege.  Rather  they  must  regard  it 
as  fearlessly  loyal  to  the  common  welfare,  true  to  high  standards 
of  scholarship,  truth,  efficiency,  character,  and  judgment.  They 
must  not  ask  or  expect  special  favors  from  this  servant  of  the 
whole  democracy. 

If  the  university  purpose  is  to  be  achieved,  the  institution 
must  seek  special  ability  wherever  this  is  to  be  found.  It 
would  be  a  calamity  if  only  sons  and  daughters  of  the  rich  and 
well-to-do  could  gain  access  to  higher  training.  Talent  and 
genius  ignore  the  distinctions  of  wealth  and  class.  A  way  must 
be  found  by  which  young  men  and  young  women  of  great 
promise,  however  they  may  be  hampered  by  poverty,  may 
gain  access  to  the  social  training  of  the  university  and  be 
freed  in  large  part  or  wholly  from  the  self-supporting  work 
which  makes  the  best  scholarship  impossible.  We  must  be- 
lieve that  men  and  communities  will  catch  this  vision  of  the 
university,  and  by  providing  scholarships  see  to  it  that  no 
exceptional  ability  shall  be  deprived  of  development  for  the 
service  of  the  commonwealth.  The  university  would  lose  its 
power  and  its  ideals  if  it  ever  became  a  place  of  privilege  for 
the  well-to-do  and  not  a  training  school  for  all  who  have 
talents  and  capacities  for  which  the  state  has  need.  The  con- 
trolling ideal,  the  mastering  purpose  of  the  university,  there- 
fore, is  not  a  mere  phrase  or  conceit — it  is  a  guiding  principle 
which  finds  application  to  every  individual,  to  every  group, 
to  every  activity  of  academic  life,  and  organizes  these  into  the 
strength  and  unity  which  only  a  common  aim  can  confer. 

Purpose  steadily  pursued  creates  a  persuasive  spirit,  regis- 
ters itself  in  institutional  character.  Open-mindedness  must 
be  a  conspicuous  trait  of  a  true  academic  community.  The 
very  search  for  new  knowledge,  the  effort  to  see  the  relations 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES  i6l 

of  things,  presupposes  an  attitude  of  inquiry,  a  willingness 
to  look  at  an  idea  or  a  fact  from  many  different  standpoints. 
Open-mindedness  toward  truth  merges  into  tolerance  and 
mutual  respect  as  between  the  individuals  and  groups  who 
make  up  the  university.  Narrowness  or  prejudice,  a  patron- 
izing attitude  of  one  group  toward  another,  the  discrediting 
of  this  calling  as  compared  with  that,  the  limiting  of  the  con- 
ception of  research  to  traditional  fields  of  inquiry, — these 
things  have  no  place  in  an  institution  mastered  by  a  sense 
of  loyal  duty  to  commonwealth  and  nation.  Genuine  culture 
consists  largely  in  sympathy  with  many  kinds  of  men  and  in 
insight  into  the  widest  ranges  of  human  life.  To  live  in  a  highly 
specialized  community  and  to  enter  with  appreciation  into 
the  activities  of  one's  colleagues  in  many  fields  is  in  itself  a 
liberalizing  experience.  There  is  place  for  generous  rivalry 
in  a  great  university,  but  this  rivalry  must  be  kept  on  a  high 
level  and  not  allowed  to  sink  into  unworthy  conflict  and  dis- 
cord. Open-mindedness,  tolerance,  high-minded  rivalry,  can- 
not fail,  under  the  guidance  of  a  controlling  ideal,  to  fuse  the 
university  into  a  genuine  unity  of  comradeship  and  good  will. 
When  each  man  and  each  group  can  see,  not  only  through 
its  own  eyes  but  through  the  eyes  of  other  persons  and  groups, 
the  common  problems  of  the  institution,  there  must  develop 
a  keener  sense  of  team  play,  a  quickened  loyalty,  a  more  vivid 
corporate  consciousness. 

The  university,  a  servant  of  the  common  life,  exalting 
standards  of  efficiency  and  worth,  summoning  its  members  to 
a  common  task,  must  stand  for  the  loftiest  ideals.  It  must 
inspire  enduring  faith.  It  must  exalt  character  above  tech- 
nical skill,  mental  alertness,  refinement  of  feeling.  It  must 
lay  hold  of  the  fundamental  motives.  The  university  rightly 
aims  at  leadership,  but,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Pritchett,  it  can 
win  this  "only  by  inspiring  the  youth  of  the  democracy  with  a 
true,  vibrant,  living  faith.  .  .  ,  The  American  university  is 
today  the  home  of  that  faith.  It  is  the  faith  of  humanity  in 
humanity  .  .  .  and  the  American  university,  which  embodies 
the  intellectual  aspirations  of  a  free  people,  is  becoming  day  by 
day  the  representative  of  their  spiritual  aspirations  as  well.'' 


1 62  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

The  state  university  cannot  fulfill  its  true  function  unless  it 
rises  to  the  higher  level  of  spiritual  idealism.  It  may  not  ally 
itself  with  any  church  or  support  any  one  theology,  but  it 
must  draw  its  inspiration  from  an  essentially  religious  view 
of  life.  As  Sir  Thomas  JMore's  Utopians  tolerated  many 
theologies  of  widely  varying  kinds,  but  united  in  common  wor- 
ship of  the  divine  energy  back  of  all  nature  and  human  life, 
so  the  university  welcomes  men  and  women  of  many  faiths  and 
rallies  them  to  a  devoted  loyalty  to  common  ideals  of  duty, 
service,  and  reverent  aspiration. 

In  the  "  Republic,"  Socrates,  in  talking  of  testing  the  young 
for  leadership,  declares : 

We  must  inquire  who  are  the  best  guardians  of  their  own  con- 
viction that  the  interest  of  the  state  is  to  be  the  rule  of  all  their 
actions.  We  must  watch  them  from  their  youth  upwards  and  pro- 
pose deeds  for  them  to  perform  in  which  they  are  most  likely  to 
forget  or  be  deceived,  and  he  who  remembers  and  is  not  deceived 
is  to  be  selected  and  he  who  fails  in  the  trial  is  to  be  rejected. 

The  gentle  sage  goes  on  to  describe  the  tests  of  toil  and  pain, 
the  tests  of  fear,  the  tests  of  seductive  pleasures,  and  he  tells 
us  that  "he  who  at  every  age  as  boy  and  youth,  and  in  mature 
life,  has  come  out  of  the  trial  victorious  and  pure,  shall  be 
appointed  a  ruler  and  guardian  of  the  state.  He  shall  be 
honored  in  life  and  death,  and  shall  receive  sepulcher  and 
other  memorials  of  honor,  the  greatest  that  we  have  to  give." 

The  essentials  of  life  and  character  have  not  changed  since 
the  days  when  Socrates  talked  of  truth  and  justice  in  the  groves 
of  Academus.  You  graduates  today  go  forth  to  be  tested.  You 
have  in  varying  measure  the  vision  of  the  university,  the  sense 
of  obligation  which  your  training  lays  upon  you.  You  must 
hear,  be  it  ever  so  faintly,  the  call  to  be  servants  of  the  com- 
monwealth. Put  to  yourselves  the  question  which  comes  down 
through  the  centuries,  Can  you  hold  to  this  conviction  that  the 
interests  of  the  community  should  be  the  rule  of  all  your 
actions?  You  will  face  intellectual  sophistry  and  beguiling 
fallacies.  Have  you  the  keenness  of  mind  and  the  force  of 
character  to  analyze   these  specious  assertions  and   to  hold 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES      163 

steadfastly  to  things  that  are  true  and  enduring?  You  will 
be  tested  by  fear — fear  of  financial  loss,  fear  of  ridicule,  fear, 
it  may  be,  of  social  ostracism.  Have  you  the  courage  and 
character  to  preserve  your  convictions  of  loyalty  to  the  general 
good  ?  You  will  be  lured  by  pleasure,  dazzled,  it  may  be,  by 
luxury  and  ostentation,  tempted  to  self-indulgence  and  evanes- 
cent pleasures.  Have  you  the  fiber  to  resist  these  appeals  and 
to  remember  that  the  social  servant  must  be  ever  strong,  clear- 
eyed,  and  faithful  to  his  work  ? 

May  you  hold  to  the  vision  you  have  caught ;  may  it  with 
the  passing  years  grow  ever  clearer,  brighter,  more  command- 
ing in  your  lives.  The  university  sends  you  forth  today  with 
Godspeed,  intrusts  to  you  the  good  name  of  our  widening  com- 
munity, summons  you  to  loyalty,  urges  you  to  organize  all 
your  resources  of  mind  and  spirit  into  the  unity  of  a  high  aim 
—  the  firm  resolve  to  realize  in  your  own  lives  the  masterful 
purpose  of  the  university,  which  is  to  be  in  ever-fuller  measure 
at  once  the  standard  bearer  and  the  servant  of  the  state. 

Go  to  your  work  and  be  strong,  halting  not  in  a  world  of  men, 
Balking  the  end  half  won  for  an  instant  dole  of  praise. 
Stand  to  your  work  and  be  wise — certain  of  sword  and  pen, 
Who  are  neither  children  nor  Gods,  but  men  in  a  world  of  men. 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  AND  NATIONAL  IDEALS^ 

B.  H.  Crocheron 

[Associate  Professor  of  Agricultural  Extension,  University  of 
California] 

We  are  emerging  from  our  first  conquest :  we  have  con- 
quered the  lands.  Farms  stretch  from  coast  to  coast  so  that 
desert  and  forest  push  back  to  the  comers  of  the  continent.  Our 
second  conquest  will  be  of  machines.  Already  the  wheels  of 
industry  turn  almost  of  themselves,  while  unlimited  power  from 

^  From  the  Atinnls  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science,  Vol.  LXVII,  No.  156,  p.  77.    Copyrighted. 


1 64     MTAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

the  turbines  streams  over  wires  to  distant  cities.  So  great 
have  been  our  conquests,  so  many  are  the  powers  harnessed  to 
industrial  life,  that  the  casual  onlooker  may  be  brought  to 
conclude  industrial  labor  has  been  abolished  by  the  accumu- 
lated knowledge  and  surplus  property  laid  up  for  us  by  genera- 
tions of  the  past  and  present.  The  man  who  lives  in  cities  is 
likely  to  travel  little  and  to  see  little  because  his  routine  by  its 
security  and  monotony  starves  out  all  adventurous  instinct. 
So  the  city  man,  traveling  between  his  home  and  the  office  or 
store,  complacently  dwells  upon  this  as  the  age  of  the  mind  and 
of  machines.  He  charms  himself  into  the  belief  that  the  time 
is  here  when  man  will  no  longer  earn  his  living  by  the  sweat  of 
his  brow,  but  rather  will  sit  in  Jovian  contemplation  of  a  per- 
fected mechanism  which  will  turn  the  wheels  of  agriculture,  of 
commerce,  of  manufacture  and  trade. 

The  truth  is  that  the  world  still  labors  by  muscle,  not  by 
mind.  The  farmer  tills  his  lands  from  early  morning  till  late 
at  evening,  trudging  home  at  sunset,  wet  with  sweat.  The 
miner  astride  his  quivering  drill  knocks  down  his  tons  of  ore 
and,  gasping,  comes  up  from  his  shift  to  change  sodden  clothes 
for  dry.  The  mill  worker  and  mechanic,  with  flying  hands  and 
fingers,  beat  through  the  day,  and  at  night  go  out  the  gates 
tired  of  muscle  and  of  brain.  It  would  be  well  if  those  street- 
car and  subway  philosophers  who  derive  their  image  of  Amer- 
ica from  across  desk  tops  and  the  penny  papers  could  make  a 
tour  of  adventure  and  of  exploration  to  the  mills  of  their  town, 
the  farms  that  lie  about  it,  and  the  mines  in  the  near-by  hills. 
They  would  find  that  manual  labor  is  the  means  by  which 
America  lives  and  that  men,  not  machines,  are  still  the  contact 
points  with  nature.  And  it  is  well  that  it  is  so.  A  new  and 
terrible  degeneracy  would  no  doubt  creep  in  when  the  world 
sat  down  to  watch  nature  do  its  work.  For  man,  mechanics 
is  only  an  assistant,  not  a  substitute.  Manual  labor  must  re- 
main the  heritage  of  the  masses,  their  birthright  to  earn  their 
bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow. 

Education  must  emphasize  the  need  of  manual  labor  and  the 
desirability  of  doing  that  labor  so  well  that  it  will  produce 
abundantly  for  the  needs  of  the  individual  and  society.   In  the 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES  i6s 

last  century  of  America  formal  education  has  become  universal, 
but  it  still  clings  to  the  ideals  of  the  fortunate  few  to  whom  it 
was  originally  restricted — those  members  of  the  nonlaboring 
class  who  were  to  do  the  planning,  not  the  working,  for  the  race. 
Education  must  aim  at  the  heart  of  the  problem  by  teaching 
that  manual  labor  is  necessary  and  therefore  honorable,  and 
that  education  is  a  means  whereby  manual  labor  becomes  more 
effective.  Educators  have  long  embraced  the  theory  that  the 
province  of  education  is  to  deal  with  higher  things  than  mere 
labor ;  that  labor  must  come  soon  enough  for  the  masses  of 
children ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  brief  time  in  schools  must 
be  made  a  vacation  period  for  the  hands  while  the  brain  takes 
its  short  and  final  exercise,  from  whence,  perforce,  it  must 
come  to  rest  when  school  days  end  and  work  begins.  It  seemed 
to  them  imperative  that  the  children  of  the  masses  should  par- 
ticipate for  a  time  in  that  realm  of  thought  and  of  scholasticism 
to  which  they  will  probably  never  have  an  opportunity  to  return. 
As  a  result  some  complained  that  schools  were  incompetent, 
that  they  had  no  relation  to  real  life,  and  that  educators  were 
theorists  and  dreamers.  Meanwhile  there  sprang  up  a  host  of 
office  boys,  clerks,  odd-job  men,  hangers-on,  and  others  who 
had  come  through  the  school  system  to  find  the  world  a  place 
wherein  they  were  required  to  do  something  for  a  living  and 
to  do  it  by  hand  as  well  as  by  brain. 

Only  lately  have  persons  grudgingly  admitted  that  schools 
should  have  some  relation  to  occupation  ;  that  schools  should 
be  the  training  ground  for  work  as  well  as  for  thought  ;  and 
that  manual  labor  on  farms,  in  mines,  in  mills  and  shops,  must 
be  the  heritage  of  the  many  who  attend  the  public  schools. 
In  response  to  the  demand  for  this  occupational  work,  courses 
in  manual  training,  home  economics,  and  agriculture  have 
crept  into  the  school  systems,  and  some  persons  are  bold  enough 
to  term  these  courses  "vocational."  In  truth  few  of  them  are 
yet  really  vocational,  because  they  do  not  train  for  a  vocation. 
Rather  do  they  seem  to  give  to  the  student  a  very  limited 
amount  of  manual  dexterity  and  thought  familiarity  in  these 
subjects.  Manual-training  courses  in  the  school  do  not  train 
mechanics,  home-economics  courses  do  not  train  housekeepers, 


1 66  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

nor  do  agricultural  courses  train  farmers.  Many  manual- 
training  courses  still  putter  with  tiny  tables  and  jig-saw  work. 
Many  home-economics  courses  peter  out  in  sticky  candies 
badly  made  and  impossible  aprons  poorly  sewn.  Most  agri- 
cultural courses  specialize  in  tiny  gardens  and  never  get  out 
to  the  fields  and  farms. 

Some  of  the  best  vocational  and  industrial  teaching  in  Amer- 
ica was  the  earliest.  When  General  Armstrong  created  the  first 
real  industrial  school  in  America  at  Hampton,  in  1868,  and 
thereby  cut  the  Gordian  knot  of  education,  he  established  a 
school  which  was  truly  vocational  in  that  he  trained  men  and 
women  for  daily  work  and  turned  out  therefrom  a  finished 
product.  From  uneducated  labor  Hampton  makes  farmers, 
bricklayers,  carpenters,  and  mechanics.  Hampton  is  a  voca- 
tional school.  Such  schools  are  only  possible,  however,  where 
they  are  regarded  as  the  essential  form  of  education  by  those 
who  are  to  be  educated  and  by  those  who  have  the  schools  in 
charge.  For  real  vocational  education  in  manual  pursuits  there 
is  not  yet  wide  demand  from  the  common  folk  or  from  the  edu- 
cators. Both  the  people  and  the  pedagogues  have  received  their 
education  in  schools  of  the  old  academic  type  ;  they  are  there- 
fore likely  to  regard  the  old  type,  which  trained  away  from 
labor,  as  the  only  real  education.  ]Many  schools  have  been 
founded  upon  the  fond  dream  that  they  were  to  train  for  life's 
elemental  occupations,  only  to  find  their  trend  changed  by  the 
men  who  had  their  direction  or  by  the  people  among  whom  they 
were  to  work. 

The  truth  is  that  the  mass  of  persons  whom  manual  schools 
would  benefit  do  not  want  such  schools.  They  still  desire  to 
have  their  children  study  in  the  direction  which  to  them  means 
learning.  Schools  for  the  manual  vocations,  they  believe,  may 
be  desirable  for  negroes  and  Indians  and  perhaps  for  the 
people  in  the  next  town,  or  even  possibly  for  their  neighbors' 
children — but  for  their  own  children,  never.  These,  they 
think,  are  destined  for  higher  and  better  things. 

Because  the  people  of  America  do  not  want  manual  educa- 
tion for  their  children,  the  burden  is  the  greater  upon  educators 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES  167 

and  other  leaders  of  public  opinion  to  call  persistently  to 
the  attention  of  the  public,  whose  ear  they  have,  that  public 
manual  education  is  a  necessity  for  the  present  and  future  good 
of  society.  We  must  teach  and  preach  that  "easy  living"  can- 
not be  the  lot  of  all,  and  therefore  it  is  unsocial  and  immoral 
for  those  who  have  not  earned  it.  We  must  glorify  manual 
labor  by  treating  it  fairly  and  squarely.  We  must  educate 
manual  labor  by  teaching  it  to  labor  better  and  more  efficiently. 
We  must  hold  forth  manual  work  as  a  vocation  which  pays 
better  in  life  and  living  than  a  clerkship.  The  farm  has  more 
of  life  than  the  ribbon  counter ;  the  machine  shop  pays  better 
wages  than  the  bank  cage. 

Public  opinion  can  also  be  led  and  directed  by  means  of  a 
few  privately  supported  schools  which  are  independent  of  pub- 
lic opinion.  Schools  like  Hampton  leap  the  entire  gap  of  edu- 
cation by  frankly  and  efficiently  training  American  boys.  .  .  , 
Such  schools  if  successful  become  popular  by  the  superior 
ability  of  their  graduates  to  earn  money  in  the  trades,  and  in 
turn  serve  as  beacon  lights  for  the  slowly  following  public 
opinion  and  public  education. 

Public  schools  training  for  life — which  is  training  for  work 
—  will  make  boys  better  farmers,  better  laborers,  and  better 
mechanics.    By  so  doing  they  will  save  America. 


WOMEN  IN  POLITICS— A  CHANCE  FOR   BROADER 
EDUCATION^ 

Helen  Herron  Taft 

[Helen  H.  Taft  (1891-  )  was  educated  at  Bryn  Mawr  Col- 
lege and  at  Yale,  where  she  specialized  in  modern  history.  During 
her  father's  terms  as  civil  governor  of  the  Philippine  Islands  and  as 
President  she  had  exceptional  opportunities  for  observing  the  actual 
conditions  of  political  life.  From  191 7  to  1920  she  was  dean  of 
Bryn  Mawr  College  and  at  times  acting  president.] 

^Miss  Taft's  article  appeared  in  the  April,  1920,  issue  of  the  Woman's 
Home  Companion  and  is  here  reprinted  by  courtesy  of  that  publication. 


1 68     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

The  American  woman  today  may  fmd  in  politics  her  greatest 
opportunity  ;  her  most  important  field  ;  the  supreme  test  of 
her  capacity,  her  sincerity  of  purpose,  her  courage. 

With  the  .  .  .  passage  of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amend- 
ment—  indeed,  three  fourths  of  the  state  legislatures  may  have 
added  it  to  the  Constitution  before  this  article  is  published — 
the  question  of  women's  participation  in  community,  state,  and 
national  politics  is  removed  definitely  from  academic  considera- 
tion and  becomes  a  matter  of  intense  practical  interest.  The 
logic  of  circumstances  gives  the  vote  alike  to  the  woman  who 
wanted  it  and  to  the  woman  who  thought  she  did  not  want  it. 
Neither  has  the  right  to  neglect  it. 

That  the  political  coming  of  age  of  American  women  should 
occur  at  a  time  when  society  especially  needs  their  services  is 
one  of  the  interesting  coincidences  of  history.  In  evolving  and 
putting  into  effect  a  coherent  program  of  reconstruction,  the 
United  States  immediately  requires,  it  seems  to  me,  the  best 
intelligence  and  energies  of  women  as  well  as  of  men.  "  Recon- 
structing"— nursing,  mending,  making  over — always  has  been 
a  woman's  job !  The  sick  and  broken  after-the-war  world  is 
waiting  for  women  to  "remold  it  nearer  to  our  heart's  desire." 
And  only  through  politics  can  women  "carry  on,"  can  they 
develop  logically  and  effectively  the  lines  of  work  begun  during 
the  war.  We  all  know  women  were  a  most  important  element 
in  getting  the  country  on  a  war  basis  and  in  making  the  war  a 
success.  Now  that  they  have  learned  to  think,  to  organize 
and  to  work  nationally,  all  that  fine  energy  and  enthusiasm 
must  not  be  lost.  Its  most  practical  peace-time  expression  is 
through  politics. 

The  chief  reason,  however,  why  I  think  women — all  women 
— should  orient  themselves  politically  is  not  because  of  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution,  or  because  politics  needs 
women,  but  because  women  need  politicsl  They  need  its  broad, 
impersonal  outlook,  its  varied  interests,  its  emphasizing  of  the 
practical  aspects  of  each  idea  or  plan.  Women  are  too  theoreti- 
cal, too  much  inclined  to  dwell  on  vague,  beautiful  projects 
without  also  considering  the  detailed  execution  of  them  and 
the  possible  objections  to  them.    "The  hurly-burly  of  rough, 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES  169 

practical  politics,"  as  the  antisuffragists  used  to  call  it,  is  exactly 
what,  psychologically  speaking,  the  feminine  sex  should  expe- 
rience for  its  own  good. 

How  can  women  prepare  themselves,  not  merely  to  vote  but 
to  have  an  equal  voice  with  men  in  the  councils  of  the  nation  ? 
As  somebody  pointed  out  that  the  first  step  toward  becoming  a 
gentleman  is  to  choose  one's  grandfather,  so  I  am  tempted  to 
say  the  first  requisite  for  a  woman's  political  success  is  to 
choose  her  grandmother,  because  so  many  grandmothers  (and 
mothers)  have  helped  give  to  the  woman  of  today  an  assort- 
ment of  so-called  feminine  qualities  of  mind  and  temper  which 
are  not  the  best  equipment  for  public  affairs. 

She  is,  for  one  thing — now  I  am  speaking  of  women  in  the 
mass,  not  of  the  leaders  of  women  —  too  docile,  too  biddable, 
too  obedient.  She  is  too  much  inclined  to  accept  a  program 
laid  down  for  her,  instead  of  reacting  against  it,  as  a  man  so 
often  does.  The  individual  woman  is  not  to  blame  for  this 
passivity ;  it  is  largely  a  result  of  the  traditional  superiority  of 
man  to  woman,  which  keeps  the  word  "obey"  in  the  marriage 
service  and  which  refuses  to  the  grown  daughter  living  at  home 
a  freedom  never  denied  the  son.  In  the  patriarchal  household 
submissiveness  was  an  indispensable  feminine  virtue,  but  it  is 
one  which  women  may  as  well  ''check  at  the  door"  of  the 
political  world. 

Another  conventional  feminine  characteristic  which  seems  to 
me  fundamentally  unsound  in  political  life  is  the  instinct  to 
please  at  all  costs,  so  stressed,  even  today,  in  the  education  of 
the  average  girl.  Her  weakest  point  is  her  uneasiness  about  the 
impression  she  may  make  on  others,  her  unwillingness  to  face 
displeasure  and  criticism.  Of  course  I  do  not  mean  that  she 
should  cultivate  churlishness  and  utter  insensitiveness  as  a  pref- 
ace to  her  participation  in  politics,  but  she  ought  to  realize 
that  independence  and  courage  are  virtues  at  least  as  commend- 
able as  docility  and  amiability  —  besides  being  rather  more 
valuable  when  one  wants  to  get  things  done. 

To  do  her  political  thinking  clearly,  if  not  originally, —  there 
are  so  few  original  minds  of  either  sex, — a  woman  should  be 
trained,  or  train  herself,  to  be  logical,  to  be  accurate,  to  be 


170  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

practical.  To  say  that  a  woman  cannot  deserve  any  or  all 
of  these  adjectives,  because  of  some  congenital  defect  of  mind, 
is  absurd.  The  defect  has  been  in  her  training,  or  in  the  life 
that  has  allowed  certain  innate  human  characteristics  to  lie 
fallow  and  undeveloped.  When  she  begins  to  take  an  interest 
in  the  political  problems  which  demand  logic,  accuracy,  and 
practicality  for  their  adequate  handling,  she  will  find  it  per- 
fectly possible  to  cultivate  these  traits.  Our  educators  should 
make  a  point  of  cultivating  them,  from  this  moment,  in  girls 
as  well  as  in  boys,  just  as  we  should  not  hesitate  to  teach  a 
girl  to  stand  up  for  her  rights  as  her  brother  stands  up  for  his. 

Political  education  of  a  more  detailed  nature  also  forms  an 
essential  part  of  the  preparation  of  women  for  their  new 
responsibilities.  It  may  be  argued  that  most  men  are  not  given 
such  education,  but  men  have  grown  up  in  political  tradition, 
with  a  knowledge  of  the  political  life  of  their  country  and  at 
least  a  rule-of-thumb  notion  of  how  to  run  it.  Women  have 
missed  this  casual  but  fairly  comprehensive  training.  There- 
fore they  must  study  history,  politics,  civics,  not  as  abstract 
branches  of  knowledge  but  as  subjects  linking  up  intimately 
with  the  work  of  national  and  international  reconstruction. 
There  are  such  courses  at  Bryn  Mawr  and  the  other  colleges 
for  women,  and  I  know  students  are  finding  in  the  work  a 
fresher  and  more  concrete  meaning  than  ever  before.  There 
should  be  courses  to  prepare  girls  for  citizenship  in  the  high 
schools  and  grammar  schools  throughout  the  country. 

For  the  mature  woman,  the  woman's  club  is  the  natural 
university  in  which  she  may  be  educated  most  simply  and 
comprehensively  for  politics.  Instead  of  lectures  on  abstract 
subjects,  the  woman's  club  should  give  short  courses  in  the  tech- 
nique of  politics,  the  business  of  governing  by  the  will  of  the 
people.  It  is  an  excellent  idea  to  invite  each  community  official 
— and  state  and  national  officials,  if  they  can  be  had  —  to  de- 
scribe the  functioning  of  his  own  office.  V/omen  should  read 
newspapers, — so  many  women  do  not, — at  least  two  papers 
every  day,  preferably  of  opposite  editorial  policy.  There  are 
many  excellent  books.  I  instance  Bryce's  "American  Com- 
monwealth"  and  Ostrogoskj's  "American   Politics"   as  good 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES  171 

examples  which  will  give  the  woman  reader  an  impersonal  and 
accurate  view  of  her  government. 

I  believe  women  should  not  limit  themselves  to  national  af- 
fairs, but  should  inform  themselves  as  fully  as  possible  on  inter- 
national relations.  They  ought  to  be  familiar  with  the  history 
and  the  economic  conditions  of  foreign  countries  and  to  keep 
in  touch  with  current  happenings  through  such  reviews  as  the 
Literary  Digest,  Current  Opinion,  and  others  which  epitomize 
the  news  and  the  thought  of  foreign  capitals.  Only  in  this  way 
can  women  learn  the  causes  which  underlie  national  antagonisms 
and  may  result  in  war,  and  only  when  fortified  by  such  knowl- 
edge can  women  make  effective  what  I  think  is  their  nearly 
universal  desire  for  international  harmony  and  the  arbitration 
of  difficulties.  Feminine  peace  propaganda  which  depends 
merely  on  emotion  will  never  get  very  far. 

There  are  many  reasons  why  I  am  opposed  to  the  idea  of  a 
Woman's  Party.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  utterly  impractical. 
Women  at  present  are  the  apprentices  of  politics.  They  have 
to  learn  all  the  tricks  of  the  trade,  all  the  rules  of  the  game. 
Who  is  to  teach  them,  except  men  ?  If  women  go  off  to  play 
by  themselves  they  will  accomplish  nothing  except  mistakes  ; 
they  will  be  like  the  reform  party,  which,  through  sheer  igno- 
rance and  lack  of  experience,  often  throws  away  the  fruits  of 
the  victory  it  has  gained  at  the  polls. 

Then,  although  a  Woman's  Party  never  could  swing  ihe 
women's  vote  in  any  one  direction,  it  would  be  most  undesirable 
that  a  Woman's  Party  should  do  such  a  thing.  On  all  our 
most  important  issues  men  and  women  ought  not  to  divide  on 
sex  lines.  Even  if  the  majority  of  women  should  be  in  favor  of 
some  specific  piece  of  legislation,  opposed  by  the  majority  of 
men,  some  men  would  be  sure  to  agree  with  the  women,  and 
the  two  groups  had  better  go  together.  Nothing  would  do  more 
to  develop  sex  antagonism — an  antisuffrage  bogy  which  hardly 
has  shown  its  head  in  this  country — than  a  Woman's  Party, 
an  organized  militancy  based  on  sex. 

It  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized  that  women  need  to 
work  with  men.  The  defects  of  each  group  are  offset  by  the 
good  qualities  of  the  other.    I  have  spoken  of  the  weaknesses 


172  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

of  women,  but  men  have  theirs,  too.  If  the  leaders  of  women 
are  so  ideahstic  that  in  straining  their  eyes  after  lofty  theories 
they  stub  their  toes  on  lowly  facts — on  the  other  hand,  men 
are  too  much  bound  by  traditions  and  precedents,  by  humdrum 
materialism.  Women  can  learn  much  from  men  in  the  tech- 
nique of  politics,  in  the  devising  of  ''court-proof"  legislation, 
in  making  it  effective  after  it  is  passed,  in  managing  public 
finances. 

Women,  nevertheless,  can  do  much,  if  they  will,  to  counter- 
act one  of  the  worst  defects  in  men's  working  out  of  our  system 
of  government  —  the  omnipresent  professional  politician.  From 
the  days  of  Andrew  Jackson  we  have  left  the  running  of  our 
country  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  professional  politicians, 
men  who  went  into  politics  to  make  a  living  or  because  they 
had  an  ax  to  grind.  What  we  need,  more  than  anything  else, 
is  the  public-spirited  citizen  who  will  take  the  responsibility  of 
watching  the  workings  of  government  machinery  between  elec- 
tions, the  disinterested  critic  who  is  not  an  office  seeker.  As 
a  class,  the  men  best  fitted  for  this  role  are  far  too  busy  to 
fill  it.  But  I  believe  it  can  be  filled  most  effectively  by  the 
public-spirited,  intelligent,  high-minded  women  who  have  the 
leisure  and  an  enormous  amount  of  unused  energy. 

As  a  start  to  taking  such  a  real  part  in  politics,  women  should 
join  one  of  the  two  big  political  parties,  and  join  now.  They 
should  have  a  share  in  making  the  next  political  platforms.  The 
independent  woman,  the  "mugwump,"  should  not  be  deterred 
by  the  fact  that  neither  party  is  precisely  to  her  liking ;  there, 
again,  the  theoretical  bent  of  her  mind,  her  longing  for  a 
counsel  of  perfection,  is  likely  to  mislead  her.  We  all  have  to 
work  with  the  tools  provided  for  us.  The  thing  to  do  is  to 
pitch  in  and  try  to  make  the  platform  of  the  party  we  choose 
more  truly  representative  of  our  opinions. 

Although  I  personally  am  a  Republican,  I  feel  that  women 
owe  no  special  gratitude  to  either  Democrats  or  Republicans, 
since  both  parties  held  off  as  long  as  possible,  and,  when  they 
couldn't  hold  off  any  longer,  each  claimed  all  the  credit  for 
"giving  women  the  vote."  However,  I  believe  in  letting  politi- 
cal bygones  be  bygones,  except  in  the  case  of  men  whose 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES      173 

illiberal  and  reactionary  attitude  toward  women  in  the  fight  for 
suffrage  indicates  that  they  will  continue  to  be  as  much  of  a 
hampering  influence  as  possible.  Not  to  avenge  the  past  but 
to  protect  the  future,  women  should  work  and  vote  against 
such  men. 

Because  the  "woman's  vote"  is  still  a  mystery  both  parties 
are  trying  their  hardest  to  attract  it,  which  puts  the  newly 
enfranchised  in  an  excellent  position  strategically.  I  believe 
they  should  take  advantage  of  that  fact  and  write  their  planks 
in  each  platform.  One  thing  which  seems  to  me  most  impor- 
tant is  that  women  should  stand  for  improvements  in  education 
— a  department  of  education  at  Washington,  with  its  woman 
representative  in  the  Cabinet ;  a  Federal  appropriation  for 
education  ;  the  improvement  of  schools  everywhere ;  the  de- 
crease of  illiteracy  and  of  subnormal  physical  conditions  as  dis- 
closed by  the  draft ;  the  increase  in  the  pay  of  teachers,  who 
do  not  now  receive  a  living  wage  and  who  in  consequence  are 
being  forced  out  of  the  schools  and  colleges.  Women  should 
insist  that  some  legal  and  constitutional  method,  either  through 
the  nation  or  through  the  states,  be  found  for  the  abolition 
of  child  labor.  And  surely  a  demand  for  the  immediate  adop- 
tion of  the  League  of  Nations  covenant  is  one  of  the  most  effec- 
tive ways  in  which  women  can  show  their  feeling  against  war. 

Such  matters  as  special  legal  protection  for  women  who  work 
and  mothers'  pensions  seem  to  me  subjects  requiring  careful 
study  and  reflection,  if  we  are  to  be  sure  of  taking  the  right 
attitude,  of  helping  women  and  not  hampering  them.  The 
women's  organizations,  which  no  one  wants  to  see  disbanded, 
might  take  up  such  study  and,  when  a  decision  is  reached,  might 
conduct  campaigns  of  education  among  the  people  at  large. 
Such  a  campaign  I  wish  could  be  waged  immediately  on  the 
issue  of  improving  educational  facilities — a  movement  bound 
to  achieve  success  as  soon  as  it  is  explained  widely  enough. 

Most  important,  politically  speaking,  is  the  representation 
of  women  in  all  bodies — in  city  councils,  in  legislatures,  in 
conventions.  Women  should  make  an  issue  of  this  representa- 
tion immediately.  Women  and  men  always  should  work  to- 
gether on  committees ;  men  should  be  made  to  get  over  the 


1 74     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

idea  that  they  can  shove  women  off  on  committees  by  them- 
selves. It  is  not  necessary  that  the  numbers  of  men  and  women 
representatives  should  be  exactly  equal, —  that  would  be  draw- 
ing the  sex  line  too  sharply, — but  there  should  be  a  fair  pro- 
portion of  women.  There  is  no  reason  why  women  should  not 
be  elected  to  office  at  once  if  they  have — as  in  many  cases  is 
true — proved  their  political  ability.  Women  should  serve  on 
juries,  with  proper  exemptions  for  those  who  have  the  care  of 
households  or  of  small  children.  There  are  members  of  either  sex 
whose  sentimentality  ought  to  disqualify  them,  but  after  all  ex- 
emptions have  been  made,  I  imagine  that,  because  of  the  greater 
leisure  of  women,  there  would  be  left  better  material  for  panels 
than  is  to  be  found  now,  when  so  many  men  of  intelligence  do 
everything  to  avoid  jury  duty  because  of  the  pressure  of  their 
private  affairs.  The  question  as  to  whether  women  will  exercise 
a  purifying  influence  on  politics  is  interesting.  Personally,  I  do 
not  believe  women  will  be  a  bit  more  scrupulous  than  men  in 
"playing  politics."  Have  not  women  made  use  of  every  politi- 
cal trick  and  maneuver  in  their  clubs  and  social  activities  ?  I 
do  not  like  to  be  dogmatic,  but  I  venture  to  say  there  will  be 
women  grafters,  just  as  there  are  men  grafters ;  there  will  be 
venal  voters  among  the  women,  just  as  there  are  among  the  men. 
And  women  will  be  enormously  clever  politicians  because  of 
their  mingling  of  finesse  and  audacity  ;  after  they  have  learned 
their  ground  they  may  outgeneral  the  other,  sex.  Nevertheless 
I  think  that  women  will  raise  the  tone  of  political  life,  at  least 
for  a  time,  because  so  many  women  of  public  spirit,  intelli- 
gence, and  fineness  will  enter  it.  The  group  corresponding  to 
them  among  men  has  little  or  no  time  for  political  activity. 

Besides  her  general  contribution  of  disinterested  political  ac- 
tivity, woman  will  bring  such  special  contributions  into  politics 
as  a  passion  for  detail  and  a  grasp  of  it  which  men  have  lacked. 
I  fancy  women  will  be  more  keen  than  men  in  getting  full  value 
for  the  use  of  public  money,  and  will  turn  more  alert  minds 
on  the  problem  of  society's  relations  with  the  individual, 
notably  as  exemplified  in  the  penal  laws. 

The  argument,  still  treasured  by  reactionaries,  that  women 
must  neglect  their  homes  in  order  to  be  good  citizens  is  utterly 


EDUCATIONAL  AIMS  AND  VALUES      175 

fallacious,  it  goes  without  saying.  Owing  to  the  trend  toward 
luxurious  living  and  the  increase  in  labor-saving  devices,  not 
for  a  generation  has  the  American  woman  needed  to  devote  all 
her  time  and  energy  to  her  home,  yet  there  has  been  no  other 
outlet  for  her  worthy  of  her  energy  and  ability.  She  has  been 
handicapped  for  the  professions,  which  demand  an  undivided 
allegiance.  To  the  woman  with  an  hour  or  several  hours  of 
idle  time  on  her  hands  every  day,  politics  may  prove  an  ideal 
opportunity  for  service.  She  will  not  neglect  her  family,  but 
she  may  neglect  her  bridge  ! 

Politics  will  have  a  most  important  effect  on  women  in  their 
relations  with  each  other,  for  it  will  make  them  more  democratic 
and  less  snobbish.  It  will  have  an  excellent  influence  on  the 
relations  of  men  and  women,  for  it  will  give  to  marriage  what 
it  never  had  before — a  basis  for  perfect  equality  and  for  coop- 
eration in  public  as  well  as  private  interests.  Women's  entrance 
into  politics  may  not  end  war,  but  I  believe  they  are  more 
unanimous  than  men  in  their  opposition  to  it.  The  success  of 
this  opposition  will  depend  not  on  their  emotional  reaction  but 
on  the  intelligence  with  which  they  make  their  horror  of  war 
effective  by  working  for  the  removal  of  its  causes  and  the 
settlement  of  international  disputes  by  arbitration.  In  general, 
it  will  be  no  easier  for  women  to  succeed  where  men  have  failed 
—  in  the  task  of  constructing,  through  political  activity,  a  new 
world.  But  the  political  future  of  women,  as  I  see  it,  certainly 
holds  this  promise :  it  gives  American  women  the  opportunity 
to  give  what  is  in  them,  instead  of  turning  it  into  useless 
channels. 


V 

THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  WORLD  PEACE 

PEACE  THROUGH  DEMOCRACY  ^ 

Elihu  Root 

[For  a  biographical  sketch  of  EHhu  Root  see  page  5.  The  address 
from  which  the  selection  below  is  taken  was  delivered  on  April  26, 
191 7,  before  the  American  Society  of  International  Law.] 

The  progress  of  democracy  is  destroying  the  type  of  govern- 
ment which  has  shown  itself  incapable  of  maintaining  respect 
for  law  and  justice  and  resisting  the  temptations  of  ambition, 
and  is  substituting  a  new  form  of  government,  which  in  its 
nature  is  incapable  of  proceeding  by  the  same  methods,  and 
necessarily  responds  to  different  motives  and  pursues  different 
objects  from  the  old  autocratic  offenders.  Only  when  that 
task  has  been  substantially  accomplished  will  the  advocates 
of  law  among  nations  be  free  from  the  inheritance  of  former 
failure.  There  will  then  be  a  new  field  open  for  a  new  trial, 
doubtless  full  of  difficulties  of  its  own,  but  of  fair  hope  and 
possibilities  of  success. 

Self-governing  democracies  are,  indeed,  liable  to  commit  great 
wrongs.  The  peoples  who  govern  themselves  frequently  mis- 
understand their  international  rights  and  ignore  their  interna- 
tional duties.  They  are  often  swayed  by  prejudice  and  blinded 
by  passion.  They  are  swift  to  decide  in  their  own  favor  the  most 
difficult  questions  upon  which  they  are  totally  ignorant.  They 
are  apt  to  applaud  the  jingo  politician,  who  courts  popularity 
by  public  insult  to  a  friendly  people,  and  to  condemn  the 

^From  "The  Effect  of  Democracy  on  International  Law,"  Interna- 
tional Conciliation,  August,  191 7.    Reprinted  by  permission. 

176 


THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  WORLD  PEACE  177 

statesman  who  modifies  extreme  demands  through  the  conces- 
sions required  by  just  consideration  for  the  rights  of  others. 
All  these  faults,  however,  are  open  and  known  to  the  whole 
world.  The  opinions  and  motives  from  which  they  proceed,  the 
real  causes  of  error,  can  be  reached  by  reason,  by  appeal  to 
better  instincts,  by  public  discussion,  by  the  ascertainment  and 
dissemination  of  the  true  facts. 

There  are  some  necessary  features  of  democratic  self- 
government  which  tend  towards  the  progressive  reduction  of 
tendencies  to  international  wrongdoing.  One  is  that  democra- 
cies are  absolutely  dependent  for  their  existence  upon  the  pres- 
ervation of  law.  Autocracies  can  give  commands  and  enforce 
them.  Rules  of  action  are  a  convenience,  not  a  necessity  for 
them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  only  atmosphere  in  which  a 
democracy  can  live  between  the  danger  of  autocracy  on  one 
side  and  the  danger  of  anarchy  on  the  other  is  the  atmosphere 
of  law.  Respect  for  law  is  the  essential  condition  of  its  exist- 
ence ;  and  as  in  a  democracy  the  law  is  an  expression  of  the 
people's  own  will,  self-respect  and  personal  pride  and  patriotism 
demand  its  observance.  An  essential  distinction  between  de- 
mocracy and  autocracy  is  that  while  the  government  of  an 
autocracy  is  superior  to  the  law,  the  government  of  a  de- 
mocracy is  subject  to  the  law.  The  conception  of  an  interna- 
tional law  binding  upon  the  governments  of  the  world  is, 
therefore,  natural  to  the  people  of  a  democracy,  and  any  viola- 
tion of  that  law  which  they  themselves  have  joined  in  prescrib- 
ing is  received  with  disapproval,  if  not  with  resentment.  This 
is  well  illustrated  by  the  attitude  of  the  people  of  the  separate 
states  of  the  American  Union  toward  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  passing  upon  the  exercise 
of  power  by  state  governments.  Physical  force  has  never  been 
used  to  compel  conformity  to  those  decisions.  Yet  the  demo- 
cratic people  of  the  United  States  have  answered  Jefferson's 
contemptuous  remark,  "John  Marshall  has  made  his  decision  ; 
now  let  him  enforce  it."  The  answer  is  that  it  is  the  will  of 
self-governed  democracy  to  obey  the  law  which  it  has  itself 
established,  and  the  decisions  of  the  Great  Tribunal  which  de- 
clares the  law  controlling  state  action  will  be  accepted  and 


178  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

observed  by  common  consent  and  enforced  by  the  power  of 
public  opinion. 

Another  necessary  feature  of  democratic  government  is  that 
the  exercise  of  the  power  of  popular  self-government  is  a  con- 
tinual training  of  all  citizens  in  the  very  qualities  which  are 
necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  law  between  nations.  Demo- 
cratic government  cannot  be  carried  on  except  by  a  people 
who  acquire  the  habit  of  seeking  true  information  about  facts, 
of  discussing  questions  of  right  and  wrong,  of  interest,  and 
of  possible  consequences,  who  have  kindly  consideration  for 
opposing  opinions  and  a  tolerant  attitude  towards  those  who 
differ.  The  longer  a  democracy  preserves  itself  through  the 
exercise  of  these  qualities,  the  better  adapted  it  is  to  apply  the 
same  methods  in  the  conduct  of  its  international  business,  and 
the  result  is  a  continually  increasing  certainty  that  international 
law  will  be  observed  in  a  community  of  democratic  nations. 

The  most  important  difference,  however,  between  the  two 
forms  of  government  is  that  democracies  are  incapable  of 
holding  or  executing  those  sinister  policies  of  ambition  which 
are  beyond  the  reach  of  argument  and  the  control  of  law.  A 
democracy  cannot  hold  such  policies  because  the  open  and 
public  avowal  and  discussion  which  must  precede  their  adop- 
tion by  a  democracy  is  destructive  of  them ;  and  it  cannot 
execute  such  policies  because  it  uniformly  lacks  the  kind  of 
disciplined  efficiency  necessary  to  diplomatic  and  military 
affirmatives. 

This  characteristic  of  popular  governments  is  well  illustrated 
by  the  hundred  years  of  peace  which  we  are  all  rather  proud 
of  preserving  throughout  the  three  thousand  miles  of  boundary 
between  Canada  and  the  United  States  without  fortifications 
or  ships  of  war  or  armies.  There  have  been  many  occasions 
when  the  tempers  of  the  men  on  either  side  of  the  line  were 
sorely  tried.  The  disputes  regarding  the  Northeastern  Bound- 
ary, the  Oregon  Boundary,  the  Alaska  Boundary,  were  acute ; 
the  affair  of  the  Caroline  on  the  Niagara  River,  the  Fenian 
Raid  upon  Lake  Champlain,  the  enforcement  of  the  Fisheries 
regulations,  were  exasperating  and  serious,  but  upon  neither 
side  of   the  boundary   did  democracy   harbor   those  sinister 


THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  WORLD  PEACE  179 

designs  of  aggrandizement  and  ambition  which  have  character- 
ized the  autocratic  governments  of  the  world.  On  neither  side 
was  there  suspicion  of  any  such  designs  in  the  democracy  across 
the  border.  The  purpose  of  each  nation  was  merely  to  stand 
up  for  its  own  rights,  and  so  reason  has  always  controlled,  and 
every  question  has  been  settled  by  fair  agreement  or  by  arbi- 
tral decision  ;  and,  finally,  for  the  past  eight  years  a  permanent 
International  Commission  with  judicial  powers  has  disposed  of 
the  controversies  arising  between  the  citizens  of  the  two 
countries  along  the  border  as  unobtrusively  and  naturally  as  if 
the  questions  arose  between  citizens  of  Maryland  and  Virginia. 
Such  has  been  the  course  of  events,  not  because  of  any  great 
design  or  farseeing  plan  but  because  it  is  the  natural  working 
of  democratic  government. 

The  incapacity  of  democracies  to  maintain  policies  of  aggres- 
sion may  be  fairly  inferred  from  the  extreme  reluctance  with 
which  they  incur  the  expense  and  make  the  sacrifices  necessary 
for  defense.  Cherishing  no  secret  designs  of  aggression  them- 
selves, they  find  it  difficult  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  such 
designs  on  the  part  of  other  nations.  Only  imminent  and  deadly 
peril  awakens  them  to  activity.  It  was  this  obstinate  confi- 
dence in  the  peaceable  intentions  of  all  mankind  which  met 
Lord  Roberts  (honored,  trusted,  and  beloved  as  he  was)  when 
long  before  the  present  war  he  vainly  sought  to  awaken  the 
people  of  England  to  the  danger  that  he  saw  so  plainly  in 
Germany's  stupendous  preparation  for  conquest.  It  is  well 
known  that  when  the  war  came  France  was  almost  upon  the 
verge  of  diminishing  her  army  by  a  reduction  in  the  years  of 
service.  In  our  own  country  a  great  people,  virile,  fearless,  and 
loyal,  have  remained  indifferent  to  all  the  voices  crying  in 
the  wilderness  for  preparation,  because  the  American  people 
could  not  be  made  to  believe  that  anything  was  going  to  happen 
inconsistent  with  the  existence  everywhere  of  those  peaceful 
purposes  of  which  they  themselves  were  conscious. 


i8o  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

FORCE  AND  PEACE ^ 

Henry  Cabot  Lodge 

[Henry  Cabot  Lodge  (1850-  )  was  educated  at  Harvard  and 
has  represented  Massachusetts  in  the  United  States  Senate  since 
1893.  He  is  a  distinguished  statesman,  a  writer  on  historical-poUtical 
subjects,  best  known  for  his  lives  of  Washington  and  Hamilton, 
"Hero  Tales  from  American  Histor>',"  and  many  volumes  of  admi- 
rable essays  and  addresses.  He  represents  splendidly  in  our  country 
a  tradition,  more  common  in  England,  as  yet,  than  '^\'ith  us,  of  a 
leader  of  public  affairs  who  is  at  the  same  time  a  great  man  of 
letters.  The  vigorous  courage  and  profound  love  of  country  which 
he  has  shown  in  his  speeches  and  addresses  during  the  last  few  years 
assure  him  a  notable  place  in  American  histor\'.] 

In  his  romance  of  the  "Last  Days  of  Pompeii,"  Bulwer 
makes  a  dramatic  point  of  the  Roman  sentry  motionless  at  his 
post  while  the  darkness  and  the  flame  and  the  burning  flood 
were  rushing  down  upon  the  doomed  city.  That  solitary  sen- 
try was  the  symbol  of  the  force  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Peace, 
order,  and  law  reigned  throughout  all  western  Europe,  but 
it  was  the  gleam  upon  the  sword  and  corselet  of  the  Roman 
legionary  which  made  men  realize  that  behind  that  law  and 
peace  and  order  was  the  irresistible  force  of  the  Empire  of 
Rome.  Let  us  take  a  more  homely  illustration.  We  have  all 
seen  in  London  and  New  York  police  officers  stationed  at 
points  where  the  traffic  is  densest  regulating  and  guiding  its 
movement  by  merely  raising  one  hand.  They  would  be  per- 
fectly incapable  of  stopping  the  vehicles  carrying  on  that  traf- 
fic, by  their  own  physical  force.  It  could  pass  over  them  and 
destroy  them  in  a  moment,  and  yet  it  is  all  governed  by  the 
gesture  of  one  man.  The  reason  is  simple ;  the  policeman  is 
the  symbol  of  the  force  of  the  community  against  which  no 
individual  force  can  prevail,  and  of  this  the  great  mass  of  in- 
dividuals are  thoroughly  if  unconsciously  aware.  Law  is  the 
written  will  of  the  community.    The  constable,  the  policeman, 

iFrom  "War  Addresses,  1Q15-1Q17."  Copyrighted  by  Houghton  Mifflin 
Company,  authorized  publishers,  and  reprinted  with  their  permission. 


THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  WORLD  PEACE  i8i 

the  soldier,  is  the  symbol  of  the  force  which  gives  sanction  to 
law  and  without  which  it  would  be  worthless.  Abolish  the 
force  which  maintains  order  in  every  village,  town,  and  city  in 
the  civilized  world  and  you  would  not  have  peace — you  would 
have  riot,  anarchy,  and  destruction  ;  the  criminal,  the  violent, 
and  the  reckless  would  dominate  until  the  men  of  order  and 
the  lovers  of  peace  united  and  restored  the  force  of  the 
community  which  had  been  swept  away.  It  is  all  obvious 
enough,  it  all  rests  on  human  nature,  and  if  there  was  not 
somewhere  an  organized  force  which  belonged  to  the  whole 
community  there  would  be  neither  peace  nor  order  anywhere. 
No  one  has  suggested,  not  even  the  most  ardent  advocates 
of  peace,  that  the  police  of  our  cities  should  be  abolished 
on  the  theory  that  an  organization  of  armed  men  whose 
duty  it  is  to  maintain  order,  even  if  they  are  compelled 
often  to  wound  and  sometimes  to  kill  for  that  purpose,  are  by 
their  mere  existence  an  incitement  to  crime  and  violence.  If 
order,  peace,  and  civilization  in  a  town,  city,  or  state  rest, 
as  they  do  rest  in  the  last  analysis,  upon  force,  upon  what 
does  the  peace  of  a  nation  depend?  It  must  depend  and  it 
can  only  depend  upon  the  ability  of  the  nation  to  maintain 
and  defend  its  own  peace  at  home  and  abroad.  Turn  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  In  the  brief  preamble  one 
of  the  chief  purposes  of  the  Constitution  is  set  down  as  provi- 
sion for  the  "common  defense."  In  the  grant  of  powers  to 
Congress  one  of  the  first  powers  conferred  is  to  provide  for  the 
"common  defense  of  the  United  States."  For  this  purpose 
they  are  given  specific  powers:  to  raise  and  support  armies, 
to  provide  and  maintain  a  navy,  to  provide  for  calling  forth 
the  militia,  suppressing  insurrections,  and  repelling  invasions. 
The  states  are  forbidden  to  engage  in  war  unless  actually  in- 
vaded, and  the  United  States  is  bound  to  protect  each  of  them 
against  invasion  and,  on  their  request,  to  protect  them  also 
against  domestic  violence. 

In  other  words,  the  Constitution  provides  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  order  at  home  and  peace  abroad  through  the  physical 
force  of  the  United  States.  The  conception  of  the  Consti- 
tution is  that  domestic  order  as  well  as  peace  with  other 


1 82  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

nations  rests  upon  the  force  of  the  nation.  Of  the  sound- 
ness of  this  proposition  there  can  be  no  doubt,  I  think,  in 
the  mind  of  any  reasonable  man.  This  obvious  principle  em- 
bodied in  the  Constitution  and  recognized  by  every  organized 
government  in  the  world  is  too  often  overlooked  at  the  pres- 
ent moment  in  the  clamor  against  armament.  The  people 
who  urge  the  disarmament  of  one  nation  in  an  armed  world 
confuse  armament  and  preparation  with  the  actual  power  upon 
which  peace  depends.  They  take  the  manifestation  for  the 
cause.  Armament  is  merely  the  instrument  by  which  the  force 
of  the  community  is  manifested  and  made  effective,  just  as 
the  policeman  is  the  manifestation  of  the  force  of  the  munic- 
ipal community  upon  which  local  order  rests.  The  fact  that 
armies  and  navies  are  used  in  war  does  not  make  them  the 
cause  of  war,  any  more  than  maintaining  a  fire  in  a  grate  to 
prevent  the  dwellers  in  the  house  from  suffering  from  cold  war- 
rants the  abolition  of  fire  because  where  fire  gets  beyond  con- 
trol it  is  a  destructive  agent.  Alexander  the  Great  was  bent  on 
conquest,  and  he  created  the  best  army  in  the  world  at  that 
time,  not  to  preserve  the  peace  of  Macedonia  but  for  the  pur- 
pose of  conquering  other  nations,  to  which  purpose  he  applied 
his  instrument.  The  wars  which  followed  were  not  due  to  the 
Macedonian  phalanx,  but  to  Alexander.  The  good  or  the  evil 
of  national  armament  depends  not  on  its  existence  or  its  size 
but  upon  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  created  and  maintained. 
Great  military  and  naval  forces  created  for  purposes  of  con- 
quest are  used  in  the  war  which  the  desire  of  conquest  causes. 
They  do  not  in  themselves  cause  war.  Armies  and  navies  organ- 
ized to  maintain  peace  serve  the  ends  of  peace  because  there 
is  no  such  incentive  to  war  as  a  rich,  undefended,  and  helpless 
country,  which  by  its  condition  invites  aggression.  The  grave 
objections  to  overwhelming  and  exhausting  armaments  are 
economic.  A  general  reduction  of  armaments  is  not  only  desir- 
able but  is  something  to  be  sought  for  with  the  utmost  earnest- 
ness. But  for  one  nation  to  disarm  and  leave  itself  defenseless 
in  an  armed  world  is  a  direct  incentive  and  invitation  to  war. 
The  danger  to  the  peace  of  the  world,  then,  lies  not  in  arma- 
ment, which  is  a  manifestation,  but  in  the  purposes  for  which 


THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  WORLD  PEACE  183 

the  armament  was  created.  A  knife  is  frequently  dangerous  to 
human  life,  but  there  would  be  no  sense  in  abolishing  knives, 
because  the  danger  depends  solely  on  the  purpose  or  passion  of 
the  individual  in  whose  hand  the  knife  is  and  not  upon  the  fact 
that  the  knife  exists.  The  peace  of  a  nation  depends  in  the 
last  resort,  like  domestic  order,  upon  the  force  of  the  community 
and  upon  the  ability  of  the  community  to  maintain  peace,  assum- 
ing that  the  nation  lives  up  to  its  obligations,  seeks  no  conquest, 
and  wishes  only  to  be  able  to  repel  aggression  and  invasion. 
If  a  nation  fulfills  strictly  all  its  international  obligations 
and  seeks  no  conquest  and  has  no  desire  to  wrong  any  other 
nation,  great  or  small,  the  danger  of  war  can  come  only  through 
the  aggression  of  others,  and  that  aggression  will  never  be  made 
if  it  is  known  that  the  peace-loving  nation  is  ready  to  repel  it. 

The  first  step,  then,  toward  the  maintenance  of  peace  is  for 
each  nation  to  maintain  its  peace  with  the  rest  of  the  world 
by  its  own  honorable  and  right  conduct  and  by  such  organiza- 
tion and  preparation  as  will  enable  it  to  defenc  its  oeace. 


THE  FOURTEEN  POINTS 

WooDROw  Wilson 

[Woodrow  Wilson  (1856-  ),  president  of  the  United  States 
igi3-iQ2i,  was  educated  at  Princeton,  the  University  of  Virginia, 
and  at  Johns  Hopkins,  and  later  taught  history  and  political  science 
at  Bryn  Mawr,  Wesleyan,  and  Princeton.  From  1902  to  19 10  he 
served  as  president  of  Princeton  University.  He  was  then  elected 
governor  of  New  Jersey.  His  most  important  writings  are  "Con- 
gressional Government"  (1885),  "The  State"  (1889),  "History  of 
the  American  People"  (1902),  and  a  life  of  Washington.  The  best 
examples  of  his  essays  are  "Ideals  of  America"  (Atlantic  Monthly 
for  December,  1902)  and  "When  a  Man  Comes  to  Himself" 
(1915).  The  Fourteen  Points  were  first  made  public  in  a  message 
to  Congress  of  January  8,  1918.] 

The  program  of  the  world's  peace  is  our  program,  and  that 
program,  the  only  possible  program,  as  we  see  it,  is  this : 

I.  Open  covenants  of  peace  openly  arrived  at,  after  which 
there  will  surely  be  no  private  international  action  or  rulings  of 


1 84     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

any  kind,  but  diplomacy  shall  proceed  always  frankly  and  in 
the  public  view. 

II.  Absolute  freedom  of  navigation  upon  the  seas,  outside 
territorial  waters,  alike  in  peace  and  in  war,  except  as  the  seas 
may  be  closed  in  whole  or  in  part  by  international  action  for 
the  enforcement  of  international  covenants. 

III.  The  removal,  so  far  as  possible,  of  all  economic  barriers 
and  the  establishment  of  an  equality  of  trade  conditions  among 
all  the  nations  consenting  to  the  peace  and  associating  them- 
selves for  its  maintenance. 

IV.  Adequate  guarantees  given  and  taken  that  national  arma- 
ments will  reduce  to  the  lowest  point  consistent  with  domestic 
safety. 

V.  Free,  open-minded,  and  absolutely  impartial  adjustment 
of  all  colonial  claims,  based  upon  a  strict  observance  of  the 
principle  that  in  determining  all  such  questions  of  sovereignty 
the  interests  of  the  population  concerned  must  have  equal 
weight  with  the  equitable  claims  of  the  government  whose  title 
is  to  be  determined. 

VI.  The  evacuation  of  all  Russian  territory  and  such  a  settle- 
ment of  all  questions  affecting  Russia  as  will  secure  the  best  and 
freest  cooperation  of  the  other  nations  of  the  world  in  obtaining 
for  her  an  unhampered  and  unembarrassed  opportunity  for  the 
independent  determination  of  her  own  political  development 
and  national  policy,  and  assure  her  of  a  sincere  welcome  into 
the  society  of  free  nations  under  institutions  of  her  own  choos- 
ing ;  and,  more  than  a  welcome,  assistance  also  of  every  kind 
that  she  may  need  and  may  herself  desire.  The  treatment  ac- 
corded Russia  by  her  sister  nations  in  the  months  to  come  will 
be  the  acid  test  of  their  good  will,  of  their  comprehension  of 
her  needs  as  distinguished  from  their  own  interests,  and  of  their 
intelligent  and  unselfish  sympathy. 

VII.  Belgium,  the  whole  world  will  agree,  must  be  evacuated 
and  restored,  without  any  attempt  to  limit  the  sovereignty  which 
she  enjoys  in  common  with  all  other  free  nations.  No  other 
single  act  will  serve  as  this  will  serve  to  restore  confidence 
among  the  nations  in  the  laws  which  they  have  themselves  set 
and  determined  for  the  government  of  their  relations  with  one 


THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  WORLD  PEACE  185 

another.   Without  this  healing  act   the  whole  structure  and 
validity  of  international  law  is  forever  impaired. 

VIII.  All  French  territory  should  be  freed  and  the  invaded 
portions  restored,  and  the  wrong  done  to  France  by  Prussia  in 
1 87 1  in  the  matter  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  which  has  unsettled  the 
peace  of  the  world  for  nearly  fifty  years,  should  be  righted,  in 
order  that  peace  may  once  more  be  made  secure  in  the  interest 
of  all. 

IX.  A  readjustment  of  the  frontiers  of  Italy  should  be  ef- 
fected along  clearly  recognizable  lines  of  nationality. 

X.  The  peoples  of  Austria-Hungary,  whose  place  among  the 
nations  we  wish  to  see  safeguarded  and  assured,  should  be  ac- 
corded the  freest  opportunity  of  autonomous  development. 

XI.  Rumania,  Serbia,  and  Montenegro  should  be  evacuated  ; 
occupied  territories  restored  ;  Serbia  accorded  free  and  secure 
access  to  the  sea ;  and  the  relations  of  the  several  Balkan 
States  to  one  another  determined  by  friendly  counsel  along 
historically  established  lines  of  allegiance  and  nationality ;  and 
international  guarantees  of  the  political  and  economic  independ- 
ence and  territorial  integrity  of  the  several  Balkan  States 
should  be  entered  into. 

XII.  The  Turkish  portions  of  the  present  Ottoman  Empire 
should  be  assured  a  secure  sovereignty,  but  the  other  national- 
ities which  are  now  under  Turkish  rule  should  be  assured  an 
undoubted  security  of  life  and  an  absolutely  unmolested  oppor- 
tunity of  autonomous  development,  and  the  Dardanelles  should 
be  permanently  opened  as  a  free  passage  to  the  ships  and  com- 
merce of  all  nations  under  international  guarantees. 

XIII.  An  independent  Polish  state  should  be  erected  which 
should  include  the  territories  inhabited  by  indisputably  Polish 
populations,  which  should  be  assured  a  free  and  secure  access 
to  the  sea,  and  whose  political  and  economic  independence 
and  territorial  integrity  should  be  guaranteed  by  international 
covenant. 

XIV.  A  general  association  of  nations  must  be  formed  under 
specific  covenants  for  the  purpose  of  affording  mutual  guaran- 
tees of  political  independence  and  territorial  integrity  to  great 
and  small  states  alike. 


1 86  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

THE  POLICY  OF  ''THE  OPEN  DOOR''^ 

Bainbridge  Colby 

[Bainbridge  Colby  (1869-  )  was  educated  at  Williams  Col- 
lege and  practices  law  in  New  York  City.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Progressive  Party  in  1912,  a  member  of  the  United 
States  Shipping  Board  during  the  World  War,  and,  1920-1921,  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  Secretary  of  State.  This  selection  is  an  address  de- 
hvered  in  May,  191 7,  before  the  National  Conference  on  the  Foreign 
Relations  of  the  United  States.  It  is  valuable  for  its  emphasis 
on  the  importance  of  economic  factors  in  international  affairs, 
especially  as  illustrated  by  the  poHcy  of  "the  open  door."] 

The  supreme  concern  of  mankind  is  justice.  This  is  the  as- 
piration of  democracy,  not  only  in  its  internal  but  in  its  inter- 
national relations.  Justice  not  only  demanded  for  ourselves 
but  freely  accorded  to  others. 

This  is  the  keynote  of  President  Wilson's  epoch-making 
appeal  to  the  nations  of  the  world.  This  immortal  address  con- 
stitutes not  only  a  satisfactory  declaration  of  the  principles  for 
which  we  entered  the  World  War,  but  it  is  the  latest  and  most 
authentic  expression  of  the  spirit  of  democracy.  The  invio- 
lability of  treaties,  respect  for  nationality,  the  right  of  develop- 
ment along  self-evolved  and  national  lines,  obedience  to  the 
promptings  of  humanity,  in  other  words,  international  justice 
—  these  are  the  salients  of  his  definition  of  democracy's  aims 
and  of  the  democratic  ideal  in  international  relations. 

But  nations  are  animated  not  only  by  theories  but  by  con- 
ditions. And  it  is  well  for  us  to  remember  that  a  nobly  defined 
ideal  does  not  necessarily  meet  or  vanquish  a  robust  and  per- 
sistent condition.  The  issue  of  the  World  War  is  familiarly 
defined  as  between  autocracy  or  militarism  on  the  one  hand 
and  democrac}^  on  the  other.  But  militarism  or  even  autoc- 
racy, odious  as  they  are,  are  only  different  lines  of  approach 
to,  or  treatment  of,  underlying  conditions  in  the  world. 

^  From  Proceedings  of  the  Academy  of  Political  Science,  Vol.  VII, 
No.  2.    Reprinted  by  permission. 


THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  WORLD  PEACE  187 

I  think  it  may  fairly  be  said  that  the  ailment  which  afflicts 
the  world  is  economic  and  not  exclusively  political.  The 
trouble  with  the  highly  industrialized  nations  of  the  temper- 
ate zone  is  that  they  cannot  produce  what  they  need  to  con- 
sume, and  they  cannot  consume  what  they  need  to  produce. 
The  populations  of  the  industrial  nations  are  steadily  growing. 
The  nations  of  western  Europe  in  a  century  have  doubled  their 
population.  Germany  is  adding  a  million  per  annum  to  her 
population,  and  the  United*  States  even  more.  The  nations 
of  western  Europe  cannot  produce  the  means  required  for  their 
subsistence.  They  have  not  the  agricultural  basis  which  yields 
them  their  requirements  in  food  and  raw  materials.  These  in- 
dispensables  of  national  life  must  be  obtained  beyond  their 
borders.  They  must,  in  other  words,  be  purchased,  and  the 
means  necessary  to  the  purchase  are  manufactured  products, 
which  must  greatly  exceed  in  amount  what  the  domestic  mar- 
ket of  the  producing  nation  can  absorb.  From  this  universal 
need  of  nations,  that  is,  food  and  raw  materials  on  the  one 
hand,  and  a  market  for  products  on  the  other,  arises  the  value 
of  colonial  possessions,  particularly  in  the  unexploited  and 
highly  productive  regions  in  the  tropics  and  the  Orient. 

These  regions  are  in  large  part  peopled  by  nations  whose 
titles  to  the  lands  they  hold  are  unassailable,  yet  the  people 
are  lacking  either  in  industry  or  ambition,  and  the  productive 
possibilities  of  their  lands  are  incapable  of  realization  unless 
the  popular  energies  are  marshaled  and  directed  and  even 
supplemented  by  the  more  progressive  and  colonizing  nations. 
The  world  needs  their  produce,  the  life  of  Europe  demands  their 
raw  materials,  and  mere  rights  of  nations  can  with  difficulty 
make  a  stand  against  necessities  that  are  so  imperious.  There 
has  thus  arisen  an  economic  imperialism,  of  which,  strange  to 
say,  the  most  democratic  of  nations  are  the  most  conspicuous 
examples.  England  throughout  the  world,  France  in  Africa 
and  the  East,  arc  deeply  conscious  of  the  relation  to  their 
industrial  vigor  of  colonial  expansion. 

Economic  advantage  seems  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  politi- 
cal control.  It  is  the  mother  country  which  builds  the  rail- 
roads in  the  colonies,  controls  port  privileges,  fixes  tariffs,  and 


l88     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

secures  to  her  nationals  the  outdistancing  advantages  which 
make  alien  competition  impossible.  Theoretically  this  may  not 
be  true,  but  in  practice  it  is  uniformly  true.  Of  Algeria's  ex- 
portations  seventy-nine  per  cent  are  to  France,  and  eighty-five 
per  cent  of  her  imports  come  from  France. 

As  the  industrial  nation  grows  in  population,  the  pressure 
upon  her  means  of  sustenance  increases,  her  need  of  raw  ma- 
terials grows  greater,  and  she  turns  a  ranging  eye  throughout 
the  world  for  the  means  of  satisfying  this  internal  pressure. 

Here  is  the  motive  of  wars,  here  is  the  menace  to  world 
peace.  And  it  is  with  reference  to  this  condition,  prevalent 
throughout  the  world,  that  we  must  determine  the  attitude  of 
democracy  in  its  international  relations. 

This  economic  pressure  is  but  beginning  to  be  felt  in  the 
United  States,  but  its  premonitory  symptoms  are  already  seen. 
It  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  our  complacent  sense  of 
security  will  give  way  to  a  realization  that  our  vast  agricultural 
basis  is  not  vast  enough  to  sustain  our  even  vaster  industrial 
development.  We  shall  then  feel,  if  not  so  acutely  as  sister 
nations  in  the  east,  at  least  as  truly,  the  need  of  expanding 
markets  and  enlarged  sources  of  raw  materials,  if  not  of  food. 

The  spiritual  aims  of  democracy,  so  perfectly  defined  by 
the  President,  will  have  to  encounter  the  imperious,  economic 
necessities  which  drive  all  nations,  which  cannot  be  stayed,  and 
which  refuse  to  be  silenced.  The  freedom  of  the  seas,  respect 
for  international  boundaries,  observance  of  treaties,  obedience 
to  international  law,  recognition  of  the  dictates  of  humanity, 
—  in  short,  all  the  aims  which  animated  America  and  her  allies 
in  this  great  war, —  do  not  in  and  of  themselves  contain  the 
promise  of  a  complete  tranquilization  of  the  world.  To  end 
wars  requires  that  the  sources  of  international  friction  should 
be  reached.  The  repression  of  barbarism,  the  punishment  of 
ruthlessness,  constitute  a  sufficient  but  only  an  immediate  ob- 
jective of  the  world's  struggle.  It  is,  of  course,  the  primary 
undertaking  of  civilization,  and,  once  achieved,  our  thought 
and  our  effort  must  go  forward  in  aims  that  are  more  far- 
reaching.  Our  goal  must  be  the  destruction  of  the  economic 
root  of  war — in  other  words,  to  establish  an  economic,  not 


THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  WORLD  PEACE  189 

only  a  political,  internationalism,  a  community  of  interests, 
even  if  qualified  and  incomplete,  among  great  nations.  The 
American  policy  of  the  open  door  in  colonial  administration 
must  find  acceptance  in  the  world  if  mankind  is  to  emerge 
from  the  perennial  menace  of  war. 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  NATIONALITY^ 

Archibald  C.  CoolidGe 

[Archibald  Gary  Coolidge  (1866-  )  was  educated  at  Harvard, 
and  after  several  years'  connection  with  the  American  diplomatic 
service  in  European  capitals  returned  to  Harvard  and  is  now  pro- 
fessor of  European  history.  In  1914  he  was  Harvard  Exchange 
Professor  at  the  University  of  Berlin.  He  has  written  "The  United 
States  as  a  World  Power"  (1908)  and  "The  Origins  of  the  Triple 
Alliance"  (1918).] 

What  is  nationality  ?  On  what  is  it  based  ?  Not  on  race — 
most  of  the  nations  of  Europe  are  of  too  mixed  and  uncertain 
origin  to  have  blood  count  for  much.  The  skull  measurements 
in  the  different  parts  of  the  Continent  suggest  totally  different 
divisions  from  the  modern  political  and  linguistic  ones.  It  is 
worth  remarking  here  that  an  imaginary  descent  may  be  of 
more  importance  than  the  real  one.  It  matters  little  whether 
the  modern  Greeks  are  or  are  not  descended  from  the  ancient 
Hellenes.  What  is  of  consequence  is  that  they  believe  they  are. 
This  belief  affects  them  profoundly  ;  it  permeates  their  national 
consciousness  and  is  a  fundamental  part  of  their  psychology. 
In  the  same  way  we  need  not  care  to  what  extent  the  modern 
Rumanians  are  the  children  of  the  Roman  legionaries  and 
colonists  and  to  what  extent  they  are  of  Dacian,  Slavic,  or  othet 
origin.  The  thing  that  counts  is  that,  speaking  a  Latin  lan- 
guage, they  regard  themselves  as  a  Latin  people,  akin  to  the 
French,  Italians,  and  Spaniards,  something  different  from  the 
Slavs  about  them,  something  more  western,  the  heirs  to  an  older 
civilization.   Although    they   belong   to   the   Greek   Orthodox 

iFrom  the  Yale  Review,  April,  1915.    Reprinted  by  permission. 


I90  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

Church,  they  turn  for  inspiration  not  to  Constantinople  and 
Moscow  but  to  Rome  and  Paris. 

We  know  that  the  Swiss  are  a  nation  though  composed 
of  several  nationalities,  and  that  as  long  as  these  prefer  to 
remain  in  their  present  glorious  little  republic  no  one  has  a 
right  to  interfere  with  them,  though  this  doctrine  is  hardly 
acceptable  to  the  extreme  partisans  of  Pan-Germanism  or  of 
Italia  Irredenta.  We  apply  the  same  principle  to  the  Belgians, 
though  they  speak  two  languages ;  but  of  what  nationality  are 
the  inhabitants  of  Alsace-Lorraine?  The  Germans  claim  the 
Alsatians  as  German  by  speech  and  descent  as  well  as  by  most 
of  their  history.  The  French  base  their  arguments  on  what 
they  regard  as  a  more  modern  conception — that  of  national 
consciousness  and  desire,  of  common  ideas  and  aspirations. 
They  declare  that  though  the  French  language  is  that  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  in  France,  and  is  the  official  and  liter- 
ary vehicle  of  expression, — one  they  believe  superior  to  any 
other, — nevertheless  a  Basque,  a  Breton,  a  Fleming,  an  Alsa- 
tian, may  be  a  genuine  and  most  patriotic  Frenchman  even  if  he 
knows  nothing  but  his  local  dialect.  It  must  be  admitted  that 
in  this  instance  the  claim  to  a  nationality,  as  based  on  language 
and  history,  cannot  well  be  reconciled  with  our  belief  in  gov- 
ernment with  the  consent  of  the  governed.  Had  the  Germans, 
during  the  last  forty  years,  been  as  successful  in  Alsace-Lorraine 
as  the  Americans  have  been  in  our  own  South,  the  situation 
would  be  different.  As  it  is,  compromise  or  reconciliation  has 
not  been  reached,  and  the  question  of  the  future  allegiance  of 
Alsace-Lorraine  has  once  more  been  referred  to  arbitrament 
of  the  sword. 

In  many  European  countries  ethnographical  statistics  are  to 
be  accepted  with  much  caution.  To  be  sure,  partisan  guesses 
are  still  more  unreliable,  for  where  no  official  figures  exist,  the 
widest  play  is  left  to  passion  and  imagination ;  witness  the 
extraordinary  estimates  that  have  been  made  frequently  in 
good  faith  of  the  strength  of  the  various  elements  in  Mace- 
donia. In  lands  where  there  are  official  statistics  we  may 
take  it  for  granted  that  the  nationality  which  has  charge 
of  the  census  will  get  more  than  its  share  in  the  returns. 


THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  WORLD  PEACE  191 

Doubtful  and  neutral  elements  can  always  be  used  to  swell 
the  figures.  For  instance,  in  the  Austrian  province  of  Galicia, 
808,000  out  of  a  total  of  871,000  Jews  are  officially  recorded 
as  speaking  Polish,  which  assures  to  the  Poles  a  good  ma- 
jority of  the  population.  In  the  neighboring  province  of  Bu- 
kowina,  out  of  192,000  Jews,  95,000  are  put  down  as  Germans. 
In  both  cases  the  real  language  of  most  of  the  Jews  is  Yid- 
dish. Now,  if  as  a  result  of  the  present  war  Russia  keeps 
Galicia,  the  Jews  of  the  eastern  half  of  the  province  will  no 
longer  be  reckoned  as  Poles  ;  and  if  at  the  same  time  Rumania 
gets  Bukowina,  the  Jews  there  will  soon  go  to  swell  the  Ru- 
manian element  in  that  province,  and  there  is  no  reason  why 
they  should  not.  Why  should  not  the  Jew  in  the  Dual  Empire 
transfer  his  linguistic  allegiance?  It  is  often  transferred  for 
him.  If  he  lives  in  southern  Hungary  he  may  be  today  an 
ardent  IVIagyar,  though  his  father  was  counted  as  a  German ; 
and  it  may  be  the  duty  of  his  son  to  be  a  good  Rumanian  or 
Serbian  without  his  wishes  being  consulted  in  any  event.  This 
does  not  mean  that  the  Jews  as  a  race  are  always  prompt  to 
change  their  linguistic  or  other  allegiance  with  each  shift  of 
their  political  fortune.  There  are  plenty  of  cases  to  the  con- 
trary. Many  Jews  have,  for  example,  been  good  Polish  patriots. 
A  more  surprising  recent  instance  of  their  abiding  loyalty  to 
one  country  is  the  obstinacy  with  which  the  colony  of  Jews 
from  Livorno,  settled  in  Tunis,  have  remained  irreconcilably 
Italian  in  their  opposition  to  French  rule. 

But  even  after  admitting  language  to  be  the  chief  though 
not  the  only  determinant  of  nationality,  we  still  have  to  inquire 
what  constitutes  a  language,  and  the  answer  is  sometimes  far 
from  easy.  Whatever  the  philologists  may  have  decided,  there 
is  sometimes  from  a  political  point  of  view  great  difficulty  in 
distinguishing  between  a  language  and  a  dialect.  Such  things 
may  be  matters  of  national  consciousness  rather  than  of  gram- 
mar or  vocabulary  ;  indeed,  practically  the  same  tongue  may 
be  regarded  as  a  dialect  or  as  a  language,  according  to  where 
it  happens  to  be  spoken.  Dutch  is  a  language,  but  the  claim  of 
Flemish  is  a  little  more  doubtful;  and  they  are  both  mere 
branches  of  Low  German,  which  is  admittedly  nothing  but  a 


192  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

dialect.  In  the  same  way,  Portuguese  is  a  language,  but  Gal- 
lego,  which  hardly  differs  from  it,  counts  as  a  dialect  of  Spanish. 
Modern  languages  have  grown  out  of  certain  local  dialects, 
and  the  process  is  still  going  on.  Astonishing  as  it  may  seem, 
the  tendency  in  Europe  today — in  spite  of  the  tremendous  in- 
crease of  the  ease  and  the  need  of  communication  throughout 
mankind,  and  in  spite  of  the  strength  of  such  cosmopolitan 
movements  as  socialism — appears  to  be  rather  towards  the  mul- 
tiplication than  to  the  diminution  of  tongues.  Within  recent 
years  written  Norwegian  has  been  drawing  further  away  from 
written  Danish,  with  which  it  formerly  was  almost  identical. 
Slovak  has  come  to  regard  itself  as  an  independent  speech,  not 
as  a  dialect  of  Bohemian,  and  INIoravian  may  possibly  do  the 
same.  All  the  efforts  of  the  Russian  government  to  maintain 
the  unity  of  the  national  language  and  to  keep  Little  F.ussian 
in  the  position  of  a  mere  dialect,  like  Plattdeutsch  in  Germany, 
have  not  prevented  the  growth  of  a  strong  Ukrainophil  party 
in  southern  Russia,  which  in  time  may  menace  the  political 
as  well  as  the  linguistic  unity  of  the  empire ;  indeed,  it  is  one 
of  the  most  serious  perils  that  threaten  its  future.  The  Little 
Russians  have  among  themselves  local  differences  that  may 
develop,  and  to  the  north  of  them  are  the  White  Russians, 
as  yet  without  a  separatist  consciousness,  but  capable  of  find- 
ing one.  In  Ireland,  Irish  still  lingers,  and  at  least  the  teaching 
of  it  is  on  the  increase ;  and  even  in  France  all  the  intense 
patriotism  and  pride  in  la  patrie  and  her  language  that  every 
Frenchman  feels  have  been  required  to  keep  the  Provengal 
movement  in  the  nineteenth  century  within  the  bounds  of  a 
harmless  literary  cult  and  prevent  its  getting  into  politics  and 
weakening  the  unity  of  the  French  nation. 

Enthusiasts  for  liberty  are  apt  to  overlook  the  sad  truth 
that  however  admirable  the  development  of  national  and  lin- 
guistic consciousness  may  be  of  itself,  it  does  not  necessarily 
make  for  peace  among  nationalities  any  more  than  do  free  in- 
stitutions and  advanced  civilization.  On  the  contrary,  in  mixed 
districts,  as  long  as  there  are  no  schools  or  legislative  bodies, 
the  question  of  what  language  shall  prevail  in  such  institutions 
does  not  come  up.    When — at  least  in  the  form  of  newsoapers, 


THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  WORLD  PEACE  193 

posters,  and  shop  signs ^ — the  written  word  becomes  a  necessity 
for  the  most  inert  minds,  the  need  of  a  common  medium  in- 
creases. Here  progress  and  friction  are  apt  to  go  hand  in 
hand.  The  very  fact  that  men  are  thrown  together  so  much 
more  than  they  used  to  be  makes  it  the  more  irritating  if 
they  are  unable  to  understand  one  another.  To  admit  that 
any  other  tongue  has  superior  merits  to  your  own  or  should 
enjoy  greater  privileges  argues  a  sad  want  of  patriotism.  All 
the  European  movements  of  emancipation  and  unification  of 
the  last  century  have  been  accompanied  by  higher  national 
consciousness  and  have  meant  keener  national  rivalries  if  not 
hatreds.  The  awakening  of  modern  Russia  was  accompanied 
-by  fierce  nationalistic  strife.  It  was  also  in  the  usual  order  of 
things  that  after  the  Turks  and  Christians  in  the  Ottoman 
Empire  had  combined  to  overthrow  the  despotism  of  Abdul 
Hamid  the  Second,  their  antagonisms  towards  one  another 
should  have  soon  become  more  acute,  for  they  were  relieved 
of  the  pressure  that  had  kept  down  their  vitality  and  desire 
for  expansion.  Like  all  such  parties,  the  Young  Turks  have 
been  ultranationalists. 

Everywhere  in  Europe  today  where  we  find  two  national- 
ities in  considerable  numbers  in  the  same  state,  the  outlook 
is  discouraging.  In  Russia  and  Germany  the  minorities  have 
been  frankly  oppressed ;  in  Austria-Hungary  the  various 
peoples  are  in  fierce  antagonism  with  one  another ;  in  Belgium 
the  Flemish  movement,  however  justified,  has  threatened  the 
future  of  the  kingdom ;  and  even  in  Switzerland,  where,  thanks 
to  a  federal  constitution  and  a  splendid  common  patriotism 
and  pride,  representatives  of  three  great  nationalities  have 
lived  on  an  equal  footing  in  such  harmony  as  nowhere  else, 
there  has  been  increasing  friction  in  the  last  few  years  between 
the  French  and  the  German  elements.  The  circumstance  that 
in  the  present  war  their  respective  sympathies  are,  as  is  natural, 
on  the  side  of  the  belligerent  whose  language  they  speak,  can 
hardly  contribute  to  good  feeling  between  themselves. 

But  granting  that  it  would  be  desirable  that  in  the  Europe 
of  the  future  each  national  group  should  be  as  far  as  possible 
self-governing,   there   is   an   obvious   limit   to   the   principle. 


194  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

Under  modern  conditions  a  state,  and  particularly  an  inland 
state,  requires  a  certain  size  for  independent  political  and 
economic  existence.  In  these  days  of  large  countries  such  iso- 
lated groups  as  the  Saxons  in  Transylvania,  the  Slovaks  in 
North  Hungary,  the  Wends  in  the  Lausitz,  the  Basques  in 
France  and  Spain,  cannot  be  expected  to  exist  as  independent 
communities ;  indeed,  they  have  no  desire  to.  All  they  ask 
for  is  certain  local  privileges,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  these 
can  be  preserved  much  longer.  The  future  seems  to  offer  little 
promise  to  small  detached  minorities,  however  historically  or 
culturally  interesting. 

The  claims  of  historical  possession  cannot  always  be  lightly 
dismissed.  Has  a  people  no  right  to  maintain  its  supremacy 
in  the  homes  and  the  lands  that  have  come  to  it  through  long 
generations?  If  it  has  been  too  hospitable  to  strangers,  is  it 
therefore  a  fit  subject  for  dismemberment  or  conquest?  In 
any  equitable  territorial  adjustment  the  historical  unity  of  a 
country  may  legitimately  demand  consideration.  For  instance, 
the  Czechs  in  Bohemia  do  not.  desire  an  independence  or 
greater  self-government  than  would  sever  them  from  the  fron- 
tier portions  of  their  territory  which  have  a  German  popula- 
tion. In  like  manner,  to  deprive  Hungary  of  all  the  parts  of 
the  kingdom  where  the  Magyars  do  not  form  the  majority  of 
the  inhabitants  would  be  to  sin  against  a  state  which,  though 
its  boundaries  may  have  varied,  has  had  a  unity  and  fixed 
abode  in  the  same  region  for  over  nine  hundred  years,  during 
which  its  history  has  counted  many  glorious  pages. 


VI 

THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  A  CULMINATION  OF 
CIVILIZATION^ 

Jan  C.  Smuts 

[Lieutenant  General  Smuts  (1870-  )  is  a  native  of  South 
Africa,  but  was  educated  at  Christ's  College,  Cambridge,  where  he 
distinguished  himself  as  a  scholar.  In  the  Boer  War  of  1899-1902 
he  fought  against  the  British,  but  in  the  World  War  he  commanded 
the  British  troops  which  drove  the  Germans  out  of  East  Africa. 
During  191 7  he  visited  England  as  South-African  representative  in 
the  Imperial  War  Cabinet,  and  his  speeches  on  the  war  and  the 
question  of  Imperial  federation  made  a  profound  impression.  One 
after-dinner  speech  was  delivered  at  a  banquet  given  in  his  honor 
by  members  of  both  Houses  of  Parliament  on  May  15,  1917,  and 
was  characterized  by  the  London  Daily  Telegraph  as  "one  of  the 
finest  and  most  statesmanlike  utterances  that  the  war  has  produced." 
This  was  called  "The  British  Commonwealth  of  Nations."  The 
selection  below  is  from  General  Smuts's  "Plan  for  a  League  of 
Nations,"  written  December  16,  1918.] 

During  this  war  a  great  deal  of  attention  has  been  given  to 
the  idea  of  a  league  of  nations  as  a  means  of  preventing  future 
wars.  The  discussion  of  the  subject  has  proceeded  almost  en- 
tirely from  that  one  point  of  view,  and  as  most  people  are 
rather  skeptical  of  the  possibility  of  preventing  wars  altogether 
the  league  has  only  too  often  been  looked  upon  as  Utopian,  as 
an  impracticable  ideal  not  likely  to  be  realized  while  human 
nature  remains  what  it  is.  Quite  recently  the  practice  of  the 
Allies  in  controlling  and  rationing  food,  shipping,  coal,  muni- 
tions,  etc.    for   common   purposes   through    the  machinery   of 

^  Reprinted  with  the  permission  of  The  Nation,  New  York,  from  the 
issue  of  February  8,  191 9.    Copyrighted. 

195 


196     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

interallied  councils  has  led  to  the  idea  that  in  future  a  league 
of  nations  might  be  similarly  used  for  the  common  economic 
needs  of  the  nations  belonging  to  the  league — at  any  rate,  for 
the  control  of  articles  of  food  or  raw  materials  or  transport  in 
respect  of  which  there  will  be  a  shortage.  In  other  words,  the 
economic  functions  of  the  league  would  not  be  confined  to  the 
prevention  of  wars  or  the  punishment  of  an  unauthorized  bellig- 
erent, but  would  be  extended  to  the  domain  of  ordinary  peace- 
ful intercourse  between  the  members  of  the  league.  And  it  was 
especially  argued  that  during  the  period  of  economic  recon- 
struction following  the  war,  when  there  would  be  a  shortage 
of  several  essential  articles,  the  league  would  be  the  proper 
authority  for  rationing  states  in  respect  of  such  articles.  That, 
generally  speaking,  was  the  utmost  extent  to  which  the  idea  of 
the  league  of  nations  was  thought  to  be  applicable. 

An  attempt  will  be  made  in  this  sketch  to  give  an  essential 
extension  to  the  functions  of  the  league ;  indeed,  to  look  upon 
the  league  from  a  very  different  point  of  view — to  view  it  not 
only  as  a  possible  means  for  preventing  future  wars  but  much 
more  as  a  great  organ  of  the  ordinary  peaceful  life  of  civiliza- 
tion, as  the  foundation  of  the  new  international  system  which 
will  be  erected  on  the  ruins  of  this  war,  and  as  the  starting 
point  from  which  the  peace  arrangements  of  the  forthcoming 
conference  should  be  made.  Such  an  orientation  of  the  idea 
seems  to  me  necessary  if  the  league  is  to  become  a  permanent 
part  of  our  international  machinery.  It  is  not  sufficient  for  the 
league  merely  to  be  a  sort  of  dens  ex  machina,  called  in  in 
very  grave  emergencies  w^hen  the  specter  of  war  appears ;  if  it 
is  to  last,  it  must  be  much  more.  It  must  become  part  and 
parcel  of  the  common  international  life  of  states ;  it  must  be 
an  ever-visible,  living,  working  organ  of  the  polity  of  civiliza- 
tion. It  must  function  so  strongly  in  the  ordinary  peaceful  in- 
tercourse of  states  that  it  becomes  irresistible  in  their  disputes  ; 
its  peace  activity  must  be  the  foundation  and  guarantee  of 
its  war  power.  How  would  it  be  possible  to  build  the  league 
so  closely  into  the  fabric  of  our  international  system? 

I  would  put  the  position  broadly  as  follows :  The  process  of 
civilization  has  always  been  towards  the  league  of  nations. 


I 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  197 

The  grouping  or  fusion  of  tribes  into  a  national  state  is  a  case 
in  point.  But  the  political  movement  has  often  gone  beyond 
that.  The  national  state  has  too  often  been  the  exception. 
Nations  in  their  march  to  power  tend  to  pass  the  purely  national 
bounds  ;  hence  arise  the  empires  which  embrace  various  nations, 
sometimes  related  in  blood  and  institutions,  sometimes  again 
different  in  race  and  hostile  in  temperament.  In  a  rudimentary 
way  all  such  composite  empires  of  the  past  were  leagues  of 
nations,  keeping  the  peace  among  the  constituent  nations,  but 
unfortunately  doing  so  not  on  the  basis  of  freedom  but  of  re- 
pression. Usually  one  dominant  nation  in  the  group  overcame, 
coerced,  and  kept  the  rest  under.  The  principle  of  nationality 
became  overstrained  and  overdeveloped,  and  nourished  itself 
by  exploiting  other,  weaker  nationalities.  Nationality  over- 
grown became  imperialism,  and  the  empire  led  a  troubled  exist- 
ence on  the  ruin  of  the  freedom  of  its  constituent  nations.  That 
was  the  evil  of  the  system  ;  but  with  however  much  friction  and 
oppression,  the  peace  was  usually  kept  among  the  nations  fall-' 
ing  within  the  empire.  These  empires  have  all  broken  down, 
and  today  the  British  Commonwealth  of  Nations  remains  the 
only  embryo  league  of  nations  because  it  is  based  on  the  true 
principles  of  national  freedom  and  political  decentralization. 

Such  was  the  political  system  of  modern  Europe  right  up  to 
the  early  decades  of  the  twentieth  century.  The  nations  of 
continental  Europe  were  mostly  grouped  into  certain  empires 
v/hich  were  small  leagues  of  nations,  keeping  the  peace  among 
their  constituents  and  incidentally  robbing  them  of  their  liber- 
ties. Leaving  aside  France  and  Italy  as  national  states,  Russia, 
Austria,  and  Turkey  were  composite  empires  embracing  the 
most  heterogeneous  races  and  peoples,  while  the  German  Em- 
pire was  predominantly  national,  with  certain  minor  accretions 
from  other  races.  The  war  has  wrought  a  fundamental  change 
and  recast  the  political  map  of  Europe.  Three  of  these  empires 
have  already  disappeared,  while  Germany,  even  if  she  survives 
the  storms  of  the  coming  days,  will  certainly  lose  her  subject 
races  of  non-German  blood. 

The  attempt  to  form  empires  or  leagues  of  nations  on  the  basis 
of  inequality  and  the  bondage  and  oppression  of  the  smaller 


198  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

national  units  has  failed,  and  the  work  has  to  be  done  all  over 
again  on  a  new  basis  and  an  enormous  scale.  The  vast  elemen- 
tal forces  liberated  by  this  war,  even  more  than  the  war  itself, 
have  been  responsible  for  this  great  change.  In  the  place  of  the 
great  empires  we  find  the  map  of  Europe  now  dotted  with  small 
nations,  embryo  states,  derelict  territories.  Europe  has  been 
reduced  to  its  original  atoms.  For  the  moment  its  political 
structure,  the  costly  result  of  so  many  centuries  of  effort,  has 
disappeared.  But  that  state  of  affairs  must  be  looked  upon  as 
temporary.  The  creative  process  in  the  political  movement  of 
humanity  cannot  be  paralyzed  ;  the  materials  lie  ready  for  a 
new  reconstructive  task,  to  which,  let  us  hope,  the  courage  and 
genius  of  Western  civilization  will  prove  equal.  Adapting  the 
great  lines  of  Browning,  one  may  describe  Europe  as  lapsing  to 

That  sad,  obscure,  anarchic  state 

Where  God  unmakes  but  to  re-make  the  world 

He  else  made  first  in  vain,  which  must  not  be. 

The  question  is,  What  new  political  form  shall  be  given  to 
these  elements  of  our  European  civilization  ?  On  the  answer  to 
that  question  depends  the  future  of  Europe  and  of  the  world. 
My  broad  contention  is  that  the  smaller,  embryonic,  unsuccess- 
ful leagues  of  nations  have  been  swept  away,  not  to  leave  an 
empty  house  for  national  individualism  or  anarchy  but  for  a 
larger  and  better  league  of  nations.  Europe  is  being  liquidated, 
and  the  league  of  nations  must  be  the  heir  to  this  great  estate. 
The  peoples  left  behind  by  the  decomposition  of  Russia,  Austria, 
and  Turkey  are  mostly  untrained  politically ;  many  of  them  are 
either  incapable  of  or  deficient  in  power  of  self-government ; 
they  are  mostly  destitute  and  will  require  much  nursing  towards 
economic  and  political  independence.  If  there  is  going  to  be  a 
scramble  among  the  victors  for  this  loot,  the  future  of  Europe 
must,  indeed,  be  despaired  of.  The  application  of  the  spoils 
system  at  this  most  solemn  juncture  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  a  repartition  of  Europe  at  a  moment  when  Europe  is 
bleeding  at  every  pore  as  a  result  of  partitions  less  than  half 
a  century  old,  would,  indeed,  be  incorrigible  madness  on  the 
part  of  rulers  and  enough  to  drive  the  torn  and  broken  peoples 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  199 

of  the  world  to  that  despair  of  the  state  which  is  the  motive 
power  behind  Russian  Bolshevism,  Surely  the  only  statesman- 
like course  is  to  make  the  league  of  nations  the  reversionary  in 
the  broadest  sense  of  these  empires.  In  this  debacle  of  the 
old  Europe  the  league  of  nations  is  no  longer  an  outsider  or 
stranger,  but  the  natural  master  of  the  house.  It  becomes  nat- 
urally and  obviously  the  solvent  for  a  problem  which  no  other 
means  will  solve. 


"I  AM  A  COVENANTER "1 

WooDROw  Wilson 

[For  a  biographical  sketch  of  Woodrow  Wilson  see  page  183.] 

I  came  back  from  Paris  bringing  one  of  the  greatest  docu- 
ments of  human  history.  One  of  the  things  that  made  it  great 
was  that  it  was  penetrated  throughout  with  the  principles  to 
which  America  has  devoted  her  life.  Let  me  hasten  to  say  that 
one  of  the  most  delightful  circumstances  of  the  work  on  the  other 
side  of  the  water  was  that  I  discovered  that  what  we  called 
American  principles  had  penetrated  to  the  heart  and  to  the 
understanding  not  only  of  the  great  peoples  of  Europe  but  to 
the  hearts  and  understandings  of  the  great  men  who  were  repre- 
senting the  peoples  of  Europe.  I  think  that  I  can  say  that  one 
of  the  things  that  America  has  had  most  at  heart  throughout 
her  existence  has  been  that  there  should  be  substituted  for  the 
brutal  processes  of  war  the  friendly  processes  of  consultation 
and  arbitration,  and  that  is  done  in  the  Covenant  of  the  League 
of  Nations.  I  am  very  anxious  that  my  fellow  citizens  should 
realize  that  that  is  the  chief  topic  of  the  Covenant  of  the 
League  of  Nations,  the  greater  part  of  its  provisions. 

The  whole  intent  and  purpose  of  the  document  are  expressed 
in  provisions  by  which  all  the  member  states  agree  that  they 
will  never  go  to  war  without  first  having  done  one  or  the  other 
of  two  things :  either  submitted  the  matter  in  controversy  to 
arbitration,  in  which  case  they  agree  to  abide  by  the  verdict,  or 

^Address  delivered  at  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  on  September  6,  1919. 


b 


200  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

submitted  it  to  discussion  in  the  Council  of  the  League  of  Na- 
tions ;  and  for  that  purpose  they  consent  to  allow  six  months 
for  the  discussion,  and,  whether  they  like  the  opinion  expressed 
or  not,  that  they  will  not  go  to  war  for  three  months  after  that 
opinion  has  been  expressed,  so  that  you  have,  whether  you  get 
arbitration  or  not,  nine  months'  discussion ;  and  I  want  to 
remind  you  that  that  is  the  central  principle  of  some  thirty 
treaties  entered  into  between  the  United  States  of  America  and 
some  thirty  other  sovereign  nations,  all  of  which  are  confirmed 
by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  We  have  such  an  agree- 
ment with  France ;  we  have  such  an  agreement  with  Great 
Britain ;  we  have  such  an  agreement  with  practically  every 
great  nation  except  Germany,  which  refused  to  enter  into 
such  an  arrangement  because,  my  fellow  citizens,  Germany 
knew  that  she  intended  something  that  did  not  bear  discussion, 
and  that  if  she  had  submitted  the  purpose  which  led  to  this  war 
to  so  much  as  one  month's  discussion  she  never  would  have 
dared  to  go  into  the  enterprise  against  mankind  which  she 
finally  did  go  into.  And  therefore  I  say  that  this  principle  of 
discussion  is  the  principle  already  adopted  by  America.  And 
what  is  the  compulsion  to  do  this?  The  compulsion  is  this — 
that  if  any  member  state  violates  that  promise  to  submit  either 
to  arbitration  or  discussion,  it  is  thereby,  ipso  jacto,  deemed 
to  have  committed  an  act  of  war  against  all  the  rest.  Then, 
you  will  ask.  Do  we  at  once  take  up  arms  and  fight  them? 
No.  We  do  something  very  much  more  terrible  than  that — 
we  absolutely  boycott  them.  Let  any  merchant  put  up  to  him- 
self that  if  he  enters  into  a  covenant  and  then  breaks  it,  and 
the  people  all  around  absolutely  desert  his  establishment  and 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  him,  ask  him  after  that  if  it  will 
be  necessary  to  send  for  the  police.  The  most  terrible  thing 
that  can  happen  to  any  individual,  and  the  most  conclusive 
thing  that  can  happen  to  a  nation,  is  to  be  read  out  of  decent 
society. 

There  was  another  thing  that  we  needed  to  accomplish  that 
is  accomplished  in  this  document.  We  wanted  disarmament, 
and  this  document  provides  in  the  only  possible  way  for  dis- 
armament by  common  agreement.    Observe,  my  fellow  citizens, 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  201 

that  just  every  great  fighting  nation  in  the  world  is  a  member 
of  this  partnership  except  Germany,  and  inasmuch  as  Germany 
has  accepted  a  Hmitation  of  her  army  to  one  hundred  thousand 
men,  I  don't  think,  for  the  time  being,  she  may  be  regarded  as 
a  great  fighting  nation.  And  you  know,  my  fellow  citizens,  that 
armaments  mean  great  standing  armies  and  great  stores  of  war 
material.  They  do  not  mean  burdensome  taxation  merely  ;  they 
do  not  mean  merely  compulsory  military  service,  which  stays  the 
economic  strength  of  the  nation,  but  they  mean  the  building  up 
of  a  military  class. 

Again  and  again,  my  fellow  citizens,  in  the  conference  at 
Paris  we  were  face  to  face  with  this  situation :  that  in  dealing 
with  a  particular  civil  government  we  found  that  they  would 
not  dare  promise  what  their  general  staff  was  not  willing  that 
they  should  promise,  and  that  they  were  dominated  by  the  mili- 
tary machine  which  they  had  created  nominally  for  their  own 
defense  but  really — whether  they  willed  it  or  not — for  the 
provocation  of  war.  And  so  as  long  as  you  have  a  military 
class,  it  does  not  make  any  difference  what  your  form  of  govern- 
ment is.  If  you  are  determined  to  be  armed  to  the  teeth  you 
must  obey  the  orders  and  directions  of  the  only  men  who  can 
control  the  great  machinery  of  war.  It  is  not  merely  the  cost 
of  armament,  although  that  is  overwhelming,  but  it  is  the 
spirit  of  it,  and  America  has  never  had  and,  I  hope,  in  the 
providence  of  God  never  will  have  that  spirit. 

And  there  is  no  other  way  to  dispense  with  great  armaments 
except  by  the  common  agreements  of  the  fighting  nations  of 
the  world.  And  here  is  the  agreement.  They  promise  disarma- 
ment and  promise  to  agree  upon  a  plan. 

Then  there  was  another  thing  we  wanted  to  do,  my  fellow 
citizens,  that  is  done  in  this  document.  We  wanted  to  see  that 
helpless  people  were  nowhere  in  the  world  put  at  the  mercy  of 
unscrupulous  enemies  and  masters.  There  is  one  pitiful  ex- 
ample which  is  in  the  hearts  of  all  of  us.  I  mean  the  example 
of  Armenia.  There  was  a  Christian  people,  helpless,  at  the 
mercy  of  a  Turkish  government  which  thought  it  the  service  of 
God  to  destroy  them.    And  at  this  moment,  my  fellow  citizens, 


202  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

it  is  an  open  question  whether  the  Armenian  people  will  not, 
while  we  sit  here  and  debate,  be  absolutely  destroyed.  When 
I  think  of  words  piled  on  words,  of  debate  following  debate, 
when  these  unspeakable  things  that  cannot  be  handled  until 
the  debate  is  over  are  happening  in  these  pitiful  parts  of 
the  world,  I  wonder  that  men  do  not  wake  up  to  the  moral 
responsibility  of  what  they  are  doing.  Great  peoples  are  driven 
out  upon  a  desert  where  there  is  no  food,  and  can  be  none,  and 
they  are  compelled  to  die,  and  then  men,  women,  and  children 
are  thrown  into  a  common  grave  so  imperfectly  covered  up 
that  here  and  there  is  a  pitiful  arm  stretched  out  to  heaven,  and 
there  is  no  pity  in  the  world.  When  shall  we  wake  to  the  moral 
responsibility  of  this  great  occasion? 

And  so,  my  fellow  citizens,  there  are  other  aspects  to  that 
matter.  Not  all  the  populations  that  are  having  something  that 
is  not  a  square  deal  live  in  Armenia.  There  are  others.  And 
one  of  the  glories  of  the  great  document  which  I  brought  back 
with  me  is  this :  that  everywhere  in  the  area  of  settlement  cov- 
ered by  the  political  questions  involved  in  that  treaty,  people 
of  that  sort  have  been  given  their  freedom  and  guaranteed  their 
freedom.  But  the  thing  does  not  end  there,  because  the  treaty 
includes  the  Covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations.  And  what 
does  that  say  ?  That  says  that  it  is  the  privilege  of  any  member 
state  to  call  attention  to  anything  anywhere  that  is  likely  to 
disturb  the  peace  of  the  world  or  the  good  understanding  be- 
tween nations  upon  which  the  peace  of  the  world  depends,  and 
every  people  in  the  world  that  have  not  got  what  they  think 
they  ought  to  have  is  thereby  given  a  world  forum  in  which  to 
bring  the  thing  to  the  bar  of  mankind.  There  never  before  has 
been  provided  a  world  forum  in  which  the  legitimate  grievances 
of  peoples  entitled  to  consideration  can  be  brought  to  the  com- 
mon judgment  of  mankind.  And  if  I  were  the  advocate  of  any 
suppressed  or  oppressed  people  I  surely  could  not  ask  any  better 
forum  than  to  stand  up  before  the  world  and  challenge  the 
other  party  to  make  good  its  excuses  for  not  acting  in  that  case. 

To  reject  that  treaty,  to  alter  that  treaty,  is  to  impair  one 
of  the  first  charters  of  mankind.  And  yet  there  are  men  who 
approach  the  question  with  passion  (with  private  passion  and 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  2  03 

party  passion),  who  think  only  of  some  immediate  advan- 
tage to  themselves  or  to  a  group  of  their  fellow  countrymen, 
and  who  look  at  the  thing  with  the  jaundiced  eyes  of  those  who 
have  some  private  purpose  of  their  own.  When,  at  last,  in  the 
annals  of  mankind  they  are  gibbeted,  they  will  regret  that  the 
gibbet  is  so  high.  I  would  not  have  you  think  that  I  am  trying 
to  characterize  those  who  conscientiously  object  to  anything  in 
this  great  document.  I  take  off  my  hat  in  the  presence  of  any 
man's  genuine  conscience,  and  there  are  men  who  are  conscien- 
tiously opposed  to  it,  though  they  will  pardon  me  if  I  say 
ignorantly  opposed.  I  have  no  quarrel  with  them.  It  has  been 
a  great  pleasure  to  confer  with  some  of  them  and  to  tell  them, 
as  frankly  as  I  would  have  told  my  most  intimate  friend,  the 
whole  inside  of  my  mind  and  every  other  mind  that  I  knew 
anything  about  that  had  been  concerned  with  the  conduct  of 
affairs  at  Paris,  in  order  that  they  might  understand  this  thing 
and  go  with  the  rest  of  us  in  the  confirmation  of  what  is  neces- 
sary for  the  peace  of  the  world.  I  have  no  intolerant  spirit  in 
the  matter,  but  I  also  assure  you  that  from  the  bottom  of  my 
feet  to  the  top  of  my  head  I  have  got  a  fighting  spirit  about  it. 
And  if  anybody  dares  defeat  this  great  experiment,  then  he 
must  gather  together  the  counselors  of  the  world  and  do 
something  better. 

If  there  is  a  better  scheme  I,  for  one,  will  subscribe  to  it, 
but  I  want  to  say  now,  as  I  said  the  other  night,  it  is  a  case 
of  put  up  or  shut  up.  Negation  will  not  save  the  world. 
Opposition  constructs  nothing.  .  .  . 

Is  it  not  a  great  vision,  my  fellow  citizens,  this  of  the 
thoughtful  world  combined  for  peace,  and  this  of  all  the  great 
peoples  of  the  world  associated  to  see  that  justice  is  done,  that 
the  strong  who  intend  wrong  are  restrained,  and  the  weak  who 
cannot  defend  themselves  are  made  secure  ?  We  have  a  prob- 
lem ahead  of  us  that  ought  to  interest  us  in  this  connection. 
We  have  promised  the  people  of  the  Philippine  Islands  that  we 
will  set  them  free.  It  has  been  one  of  our  perplexities  how 
we  should  make  them  safe  after  we  set  them  free.  Under  this 
arrangement  they  will  be  safe  from  the  outset.  They  will  be- 
come members  of  the  League  of  Nations,  and  every  great 


204  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

nation  in  the  world  will  be  obliged  to  respect  and  preserve 
against  external  aggression  from  any  quarter  the  territorial 
integrity  and  political  independence  of  the  Philippines.  It 
simplifies  one  of  the  most  perplexing  problems  that  has  faced 
the  American  public. 

But  it  does  not  simplify  our  problems  merely,  gentlemen. 
It  illustrates  the  triumph  of  the  American  spirit.  I  do  not 
want  to  attempt  any  flight  of  fancy,  but  I  can  fancy  those  men 
of  the  first  generation  that  so  thoughtfully  set  this  great  govern- 
ment up, —  the  generation  of  Washington,  Hamilton,  Jefferson, 
and  the  Adamses ;  I  can  fancy  their  looking  on  with  a  sort  of 
enraptured  amazement  that  the  American  spirit  should  have 
made  conquest  of  the  world. 

If  anything  I  have  said  has  left  the  impression  on  your  mind 
that  I  have  the  least  doubt  of  the  result,  please  dismiss  the 
impression.  And  if  you  think  I  have  come  out  on  this  errand 
to  fight  anybody,  please  dismiss  that  from  your  mind.  I  have 
not  come  to  fight  or  antagonize  any  individual  or  body  of  in- 
dividuals. I  have,  let  me  say,  without  the  slightest  affectation, 
the  greatest  respect  for  the  United  States  Senate ;  but,  my 
fellow  citizens,  I  have  come  out  to  fight  for  a  cause.  That 
cause  is  greater  than  the  Senate ;  it  is  greater  than  the  govern- 
ment. It  is  as  great  as  the  cause  of  mankind,  and  I  intend, 
in  office  and  out,  to  fight  that  battle  as  long  as  I  live.  My 
ancestors  were  troublesome  Scotchmen,  and  among  them  were 
some  of  that  famous  group  that  were  known  as  the  Covenanters. 
Very  well,  there  is  the  Covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations. 
I  am  a  Covenanter ! 


THE  QUESTION  OF  '' RESERVATIONS  "^ 
Henry  Cabot  Lodge 

[For  a  biographical  sketch  see  page  i8o.  The  following  material 
was  chosen  from  Senator  Lodge's  address  on  the  League  of  Nations 
made  before  the  United  States  Senate  on  August   12,    1919.     In 

1  For  the  complete  address  consult  the  Congressional  Record  of  the 
66th  Congress,  first  session,  volume  58,  part  4,  pp.  3779  et  seq. 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  205 

that  address  he  discussed,  article  by  article,  the  Covenant  of  the 
League  of  Nations,  which,  as  part  of  the  peace  treaty,  had  been 
submitted  to  the  Senate  for  ratification. 

The  first  quotation  in  the  selection  below  is  the  third  paragraph 
of  Article  III  of  the  League  Covenant.  A  few  of  his  remarks  upon 
that  article  are  given  in  the  two  following  paragraphs  of  our  text.] 

"The  assembly  may  deal  at  its  meetings  with  any  matter 
within  the  sphere  of  action  of  the  League  or  affecting  the  peace 
of  the  world." 

The  French  Revolution,  which  was  wholly  internal  at  the 
beginning,  affected  the  peace  of  the  world  to  such  an  extent 
that  it  brought  on  a  world  war  which  lasted  some  twenty-five 
years.  Can  anyone  say  that  our  Civil  War  did  not  affect 
the  peace  of  the  world?  ''Any  matter  affecting  the  peace  of 
the  world"  is  a  very  broad  statement  which  could  be  made 
to  justify  almost  any  interference  on  the  part  of  the  League 
with  the  internal  affairs  of  other  countries. 

If  Europe  desires  such  an  alliance  or  league  with  a  power 
of  this  kind,  so  be  it ;  I  have  no  objection,  provided  they  do 
not  interfere  with  the  American  continents  or  force  us  against 
our  will,  but  bound  by  a  moral  obligation,  into  all  the  quarrels 
of  Europe,  If  England,  abandoning  the  policy  of  Canning, 
desires  to  be  a  member  of  a  league  which  has  such  powers  as 
this,  I  have  not  a  word  to  say.  But  I  object  in  the  strongest 
possible  way  to  having  the  United  States  agree,  directly  or 
indirectly,  to  be  controlled  by  a  league  which  may  at  any  time 
and  perfectly  lawfully  and  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the 
covenant  draw  us  in  to  deal  with  internal  conflicts  in  other 
countries,  no  matter  what  those  conflicts  may  be.  We  should 
never  permit  the  United  States  to  be  involved  in  any  internal 
conflict  in  another  country,  except  by  the  will  of  her  people 
expressed  through  the  Congress  which  represents  them. 


Article  XXI  says,  ''  Nothing  in  this  covenant  shall  be  deemed 
to  affect  the  validity  of  international  engagements  such  as 
treaties  of  arbitration  or  regional  understandings  like  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  for  securing  the  maintenance  of  peace." 


2  06     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

The  Monroe  Doctrine  was  the  corollary  of  Washington's 
neutrality  policy  and  of  his  injunction  against  permanent  al- 
liances. It  reiterates  and  reaffirms  the  principle.  We  do  not 
seek  to  meddle  in  the  affairs  of  Europe  and  keep  Europe  out 
of  the  Americas.  It  is  as  important  to  keep  the  United  States 
out  of  European  affairs  as  to  keep  Europe  out  of  the  American 
continents.  Let  us  maintain  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  then,  in  its 
entirety,  and  not  only  preserve  our  own  safety  but  in  this  way 
best  promote  the  real  peace  of  the  world.  Whenever  the  pres- 
ervation of  freedom  and  civilization  and  the  overthrow  of  a 
menacing  world  conqueror  summon  us  we  shall  respond  fully 
and  nobly,  as  we  did  in  191 7.  He  who  doubts  that  we  should 
do  so  has  little  faith  in  America.  But  let  it  be  our  own  act 
and  not  done  reluctantly  by  the  coercion  of  other  countries, 
at  the  bidding  or  by  the  permission  of  other  countries. 

Another  point  in  this  covenant  where  change  must  be  made 
in  order  to  protect  the  safety  of  the  United  States  in  the  future 
is  in  Article  I,  where  withdrawal  is  provided  for.  This  pro- 
vision was  an  attempt  to  meet  the  very  general  objection  to 
the  first  draft  of  the  League,  that  there  was  no  means  of  getting 
out  of  it  without  denouncing  the  treaty ;  that  is,  there  was 
no  arrangement  for  the  withdrawal  of  any  nation.  As  it  now 
stands  it  reads  that  ''Any  member  of  the  League  may,  after  two 
years'  notice  of  its  intention  to  do  so,  withdraw  from  the  League, 
provided  that  all  its  international  obligations  and  all  its  obliga- 
tions under  this  covenant  shall  have  been  fulfilled  at  the  time 
of  its  withdrawal." 

The  right  of  withdrawal  is  given  by  this  clause,  although  the 
time  for  notice  (two  years)  is  altogether  too  long.  Six  months 
or  a  year  would  be  found,  I  think,  in  most  treaties  to  be  the 
normal  period  fixed  for  notice  of  withdrawal.  But  whatever 
virtue  there  may  be  in  the  right  thus  conferred  is  completely 
nullified  by  the  proviso. 

The  right  of  withdrawal  cannot  be  exercised  until  all  the 
international  obligations  and  all  the  obligations  of  the  with- 
drawing nations  have  been  fulfilled.  The  League  alone  can 
decide  whether  "all  international  obligations  and  all  obligations 
under  this  covenant "  have  been  fulfilled,  and  this  would  require, 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  207 

under  the  provisions  of  the  League,  a  unanimous  vote,  so  that 
any  nation  desiring  to  withdraw  could  not  do  so,  even  on 
the  two  years'  notice,  if  one  nation  voted  that  the  obligations 
had  not  been  fulfilled.  Remember  that  this  gives  the  League 
not  only  the  power  to  review  all  our  obligations  under  the 
covenant  but  all  our  treaties  with  all  nations,  for  every  one  of 
those  is  an  "international  obligation." 

Any  analysis  of  the  provisions  of  this  League  covenant  brings 
out  in  startling  relief  one  great  fact.  Whatever  may  be  said, 
it  is  not  a  league  of  peace ;  it  is  an  alliance,  dominated  at  the 
present  moment  by  five  great  powers  (really  by  three),  and  it 
has  all  the  marks  of  an  alliance.  The  development  of  interna- 
tional law  is  neglected.  The  court  which  is  to  decide  disputes 
brought  before  it  fills  but  a  small  place.  The  conditions  for 
which  this  League  really  provides  with  the  utmost  care  are 
political  conditions,  not  judicial  questions,  to  be  reached  by 
the  executive  council  and  the  assembly — purely  political  bodies 
without  any  trace  of  a  judicial  character  about  them.  Such 
being  its  machinery,  the  control  being  in  the  hands  of  political 
appointees  whose  votes  will  be  controlled  by  interest  and  ex- 
pediency, it  exhibits  that  most  marked  characteristic  of  an 
alliance — that  its  decisions  are  to  be  carried  out  by  force. 
Those  articles  upon  which  the  whole  structure  rests  are  articles 
which  provide  for  the  use  of  force ;  that  is,  for  war.  This 
League  to  enforce  peace  does  a  great  deal  for  enforcement  and 
very  little  for  peace.  It  makes  more  essential  provisions  look- 
ing to  war  than  to  peace  for  the  settlement  of  disputes. 

Taken  altogether,  these  provisions  for  war  present  what  to 
my  mind  is  the  gravest  objection  to  this  League  in  its  present 
form.  We  are  told  that  of  course  nothing  will  be  done  in  the 
way  of  warlike  acts  without  the  consent  of  Congress.  If  that 
is  true  let  us  say  so  in  the  covenant.  But  as  it  stands,  there 
is  no  doubt  whatever  in  my  mind  that  American  troops  and 
American  ships  may  be  ordered  to  any  part  of  the  world  by 
nations  other  than  the  United  States,  and  that  is  a  proposition 
to  which  I,  for  one,  can  never  assent.  It  must  be  made  per- 
fectly clear  that  no  American  soldiers,  not  even  a  corporal's 


2o8     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

guard,  that  no  American  sailors,  not  even  the  crew  of  a  sub- 
marine, can  ever  be  engaged  in  war  or  ordered  anywhere  ex- 
cept by  the  constitutional  authorities  of  the  United  States.  To 
Congress  is  granted  by  the  Constitution  the  right  to  declare 
war,  and  nothing  that  would  take  the  troops  out  of  the  country 
at  the  bidding  or  demand  of  other  nations  should  ever  be  per- 
mitted except  through  Congressional  action.  The  lives  of  Amer- 
icans must  never  be  sacrificed  except  by  the  will  of  the 
American  people  expressed  through  their  chosen  representatives 
in  Congress.  This  is  a  point  upon  which  no  doubt  can  be 
permitted.  American  soldiers  and  American  sailors  have  never 
failed  the  country  when  the  country  called  upon  them.  They 
went  in  their  hundreds  of  thousands  into  the  war  just  closed. 
They  went  to  die  for  the  great  cause  of  freedom  and  of 
civilization.  They  went  at  their  service.  We  were  late  in 
entering  the  war.  We  made  no  preparation,  as  we  ought 
to  have  done,  for  the  ordeal  which  was  clearly  coming  upon 
us,  but  w^e  went,  and  we  turned  the  wavering  scale.  It  was 
done  by  the  American  soldier,  the  American  sailor,  and  the 
spirit  and  energy  of  the  American  people.  They  overrode 
all  obstacles  and  all  shortcomings  on  the  part  of  the  admin- 
istration or  of  Congress  and  gave  to  their  country  a  great 
place  in  the  great  victory.  It  was  the  first  time  we  had  been 
called  upon  to  rescue  the  civilized  world.  Did  we  fail  ?  On 
the  contrary,  we  succeeded,  succeeded  largely  and  nobly,  and 
w^e  did  it  without  any  command  from  any  league  of  nations. 
When  the  emergency  came  we  met  it ;  we  were  able  to  meet  it 
because  we  had  built  up  on  this  continent  the  greatest  and  most 
powerful  nation  in  the  world — built  it  up  under  our  own 
policies,  in  our  own  way  ;  and  one  great  element  of  our  strength 
was  the  fact  that  we  had  held  aloof  and  had  not  thrust  our- 
selves into  European  quarrels,  that  we  had  no  selfish  interest 
to  serve.  We  made  great  sacrifices.  We  have  done  splendid 
work.  I  believe  that  we  do  not  require  to  be  told  by  foreign 
nations  when  we  shall  do  work  which  freedom  and  civilization 
require.  I  think  we  can  move  to  victory  much  better  under 
our  own  command  than  under  the  command  of  others.  Let  us 
unite  with  the  world  to  promote  the  peaceable  settlement  of  all 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  209 

international  disputes.  Let  us  try  to  develop  international  law. 
Let  us  associate  ourselves  with  the  other  nations  for  these  pur- 
poses. But  let  us  retain  in  our  own  hands  and  in  our  own  con- 
trol the  lives  of  the  youth  of  the  land.  Let  no  American  be 
sent  into  battle  except  by  the  constitutional  authorities  of  his 
own  country  and  by  the  will  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 


ARTICLE  X 

WooDROw  Wilson 

[For  a  biographical  sketch  see  page  183.  The  letter  that  follows 
was  published  on  March  8,  1920,  and  indicates  clearly  President 
Wilson's  attitude  toward  perhaps  the  most  discussed  article  in  the 
Covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations.  The  text  of  Article  X  is  given 
in  the  footnote  to  page  215  of  this  book.] 

My  dear  Senator  Hitchcock: 

I  understand  that  one  or  two  of  your  colleagues  do  me  the 
honor  of  desiring  to  know  what  my  views  are  with  reference 
to  Article  X  of  the  League  of  Nations  and  the  effect  upon  the 
League  of  the  adoption  of  certain  proposed  reservations  to 
that  article.  I  welcome  the  opportunity  to  throw  any  light  I 
can  upon  a  subject  which  has  become  so  singularly  beclouded 
by  misapprehensions  and  misinterpretations  of  every  kind. 

Can't  escape  Moral  Obligation 

There  is  no  escaping  the  moral  obligations  which  are  ex- 
pressed in  positive  terms  in  this  article  of  the  covenant.  We 
won  a  moral  victory  over  Germany  far  greater  even  than  the 
military  victory  won  on  the  field  of  battle,  because  the  opinion 
of  the  whole  world  swung  to  our  support  and  the  support  of 
the  nations  associated  with  us  in  the  great  struggle.  It  did  so 
because  of  our  common  profession  and  promise  that  we  meant 
to  establish  "an  organization  of  peace  which  should  make  it 
certain  that  the  combined  power  of  free  nations  would  check 
every  invasion  of  right  and  serve  to  make  peace  and  justice 
the  more  secure  by  affording  a  definite  tribunal  of  opinion  to 


210  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

which  all  must  submit  and  by  which  every  international  read- 
justment that  cannot  be  amicably  agreed  upon  by  the  peoples 
directly  concerned  shall  be  sanctioned."  This  promise  and 
assurance  were  written  into  the  preliminaries  of  the  armistice 
and  into  the  preliminaries  of  the  peace  itself,  and  constitute 
one  of  the  most  sacred  obligations  ever  assumed  by  any  nation 
or  body  of  nations.  It  is  unthinkable  that  America  should  set 
the  example  of  ignoring  such  a  solemn  moral  engagement. 

For  myself,  I  feel  that  I  could  not  look  the  soldiers  of  our 
gallant  armies  in  the  face  again  if  I  did  not  do  everything  in 
my  power  to  remove  every  obstacle  that  lies  in  the  way  of  the 
adoption  of  this  particular  article  of  the  covenant,  because  we 
made  these  pledges  to  them  as  well  as  to  the  rest  of  the  world, 
and  it  was  to  this  cause  they  deemed  themselves  devoted  in  a 
spirit  of  crusaders.  I  should  be  forever  unfaithful  to  them  if  I 
did  not  do  my  utmost  to  fulfill  the  high  purpose  for  which  they 
fought. 

No  Need  to  state  Methods 

I  think,  my  dear  Senator,  we  can  dismiss  from  our  minds 
the  idea  that  it  is  necessary  to  stipulate  in  connection  with 
Article  X  the  constitutional  methods  we  should  use  in  fulfilling 
our  obligations  under  it.  We  gain  nothing  by  such  stipulations 
and  secure  nothing  which  is  not  already  secured.  It  was 
understood  as  a  matter  of  course  at  the  conference  at  Paris  that 
whatever  obligations  any  government  assumed  or  whatever 
duties  it  undertook  under  the  treaty  would,  of  course,  have  to 
be  fulfilled  by  its  usual  and  established  constitutional  methods 
of  action.  Once  or  twice  in  meetings  of  the  conference,  when 
the  treaty  was  under  consideration,  "reservations"  were  made 
to  that  effect  by  the  representatives  of  individual  powers,  and 
those  ''reservations"  were  invariably  received  in  the  way  in 
which  men  who  have  met  for  business  and  not  for  talk  always 
receive  acts  of  scrupulous  supererogation — listened  to  with 
indifferent  silence,  as  such  men  listen  to  what  is  a  matter  of 
course  and  was  not  necessary  to  say. 

There  can  be  no  objection  to  explaining  again  what  our  con- 
stitutional method  is  and  that  our  Congress  alone  can  declare 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS         211 

war  or  determine  the  causes  or  occasions  for  war,  and  that  it 
alone  can  authorize  the  use  of  the  armed  forces  of  the  United 
States  on  land  or  on  the  sea.  But  to  make  such  a  declaration 
would  certainly  be  a  work  of  supererogation. 

Sees  Virtual  Nullification 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  reservations  that  have  come  under 
my  notice  are,  almost  without  exception,  not  interpretations  of 
the  articles  to  which  it  is  proposed  to  attach  them  but  in  effect 
virtual  nullifications  of  those  articles. 

Any  reservation  which  seeks  to  deprive  the  League  of  Nations 
of  the  force  of  Article  X  cuts  at  the  very  heart  and  life  of 
the  covenant  itself.  Any  league  of  nations  which  does  not 
guarantee  as  a  matter  of  incontestable  right  the  political  inde- 
pendence and  integrity  of  each  of  its  members  might  be  hardly 
more  than  a  futile  scrap  of  paper,  as  ineffective  in  operation 
as  the  agreement  between  Belgium  and  Germany  which  the 
Germans  violated  in  19 14. 

Article  X,  as  written  into  the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  represents 
the  renunciation  by  Great  Britain  and  Japan  (which,  before 
the  war,  had  begun  to  find  so  many  interests  in  common  in  the 
Pacific),  by  P" ranee,  by  Italy, — by  all  the  great  fighting  powers 
of  the  world, — of  the  old  pretensions  of  political  conquest  and 
territorial  aggrandizement.  It  is  a  new  doctrine  in  the  world's 
affairs  and  must  be  recognized,  or  there  is  no  secure  basis  for 
the  peace  which  the  whole  world  so  longingly  desires  and  so 
desperately  needs. 

If  Article  X  is  not  adopted  and  acted  upon,  the  governments 
which  reject  it  will,  I  think,  be  guilty  of  bad  faith  to  their 
people,  whom  they  induced  to  make  the  infinite  sacrifices  of 
the  war  by  the  pledge  that  they  would  be  fighting  to  redeem 
the  world  from  the  old  order  of  force  and  aggression.  They  will 
be  acting  also  in  bad  faith  to  the  opinion  of  the  world  at  large, 
to  which  they  appealed  for  support  in  a  concerted  stand  against 
the  aggressions  and  pretensions  of  Germany. 


212  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

Fears  Jealous  Rivalry  again 

If  we  were  to  reject  Article  X,  or  so  to  weaken  it  as  to  take 
its  full  force  out  of  it,  it  would  mark  us  as  desiring  to  return 
to  the  old  world  of  jealous  rivalry  and  misunderstandings,  from 
which  our  gallant  soldiers  have  rescued  us,  and  would  leave  us 
without  any  vision  or  new  conception  of  justice  and  peace.  We 
would  have  learned  no  lesson  from  the  war,  but  gained  only 
the  regret  that  it  had  involved  us  in  its  maelstrom  of  suffering. 
If  America  has  awakened,  as  the  rest  of  the  world  has,  to  the 
vision  of  a  new  day  in  which  the  mistakes  of  the  past  are  to 
be  corrected,  it  will  welcome  the  opportunity  to  share  the 
responsibilities  of  Article  X. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  Senator,  that  this  article  constitutes 
a  renunciation  of  wrong  ambition  on  the  part  of  powerful 
nations  with  whom  we  were  associated  in  the  war.  It  is  by  no 
means  certain  that  without  this  article  any  such  renunciation 
will  take  place.  Militaristic  ambitions  and  imperialistic  policies 
are  by  no  means  dead,  even  in  the  counsels  of  the  nations  whom 
we  most  trust  and  with  whom  we  most  desire  to  be  associated 
in  the  tasks  of  peace. 

Throughout  the  sessions  of  the  conference  in  Paris  it  was 
evident  that  a  militaristic  party,  under  the  most  influential 
leadership,  was  seeking  to  gain  ascendancy  in  the  counsels  of 
France.  They  were  defeated  then,  but  are  in  control  now. 
The  chief  arguments  advanced  in  Paris  in  support  of  the  Italian 
claims  on  the  Adriatic  were  strategic  arguments — that  is  to 
say,  military  arguments,  which  had  at  their  back  the  thought 
of  naval  supremacy  in  that  sea.  For  my  own  part  I  am  as 
intolerant  of  imperialistic  designs  on  the  part  of  other  nations 
as  I  was  of  such  designs  on  the  part  of  Germany. 

Choice  between  Two  Ideals 

The  choice  is  between  two  ideals :  on  the  one  hand,  the 
ideal  of  democracy,  which  represents  the  rights  of  free  peoples 
everywhere  to  govern  themselves ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the 
ideal  of  imperialism,  which  seeks  to  dominate  by  force  and 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  213 

unjust  power — an  ideal  which  is  by  no  means  dead  and  which 
is  earnestly  held  in  many  quarters  still.  Every  imperialistic 
influence  in  Europe  was  hostile  to  the  embodiment  of  Article 
X  in  the  Covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations,  and  its  defeat 
now  would  mark  the  complete  consummation  of  their  efforts 
to  nullify  the  treaty.  I  hold  the  doctrine  of  Article  X  to 
be  the  essence  of  Americanism.  We  cannot  repudiate  it  or 
weaken  it  without  at  the  same  time  repudiating  our  own 
principles. 

The  imperialist  wants  no  League  of  Nations ;  but  if  in  re- 
sponse to  the  universal  cry  of  the  masses  everywhere,  there  is 
to  be  one,  he  is  interested  to  secure  one  suited  to  his  own  pur- 
poses, one  that  will  permit  him  to  continue  the  historic  game 
of  pawns  and  peoples — the  juggling  of  provinces,  the  old 
balances  of  power,  and  the  inevitable  wars  attendant  upon 
these  things. 

The  reservation  proposed  would  perpetuate  the  old  order. 
Does  anyone  really  want  to  see  the  old  game  played  again? 
Can  anyone  really  venture  to  take  part  in  reviving  the  old 
order  ?  The  enemies  of  a  League  of  Nations  have  by  every  true 
instinct  centered  their  efforts  against  Article  X,  for  it  is  un- 
doubtedly the  foundation  of  the  whole  structure.  It  is  the 
bulwark  and  the  only  bulwark  of  the  rising  democracy  of  the 
world  against  the  forces  of  imperialism  and  reaction. 

Enter  Fearlessly  or  Stay  Out 

Either  we  should  enter  the  League  fearlessly,  accepting  the 
responsibility  and  not  fearing  the  role  of  leadership  which  we 
now  enjoy,  contributing  our  efforts  toward  establishing  a  just 
and  permanent  peace,  or  we  should  retire  as  gracefully  as  pos- 
sible from  the  great  concert  of  powers  by  which  the  world  was 
saved.  For  my  own  part  I  am  not  willing  to  trust  to  the  counsel 
of  diplomats  the  working  out  of  any  salvation  of  the  world  from 
the  things  which  it  has  suffered. 

I  believe  that  when  the  full  significance  of  this  great  question 
has  been  generally  apprehended,  obstacles  will  seem  insignifi- 
cant before  the  opportunity,  a  great  and  glorious  opportunity, 


214     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

to  contribute  our  overwhelming  moral  and  material  force  to  the 
establishment  of  an  international  regime  in  which  our  own 
ideals  of  justice  and  right  may  be  made  to  prevail  and  the 
nations  of  the  world  be  allowed  a  peaceful  development  under 
conditions  of  order  and  safety  hitherto  impossible. 

I  need  not  say,  Senator,  that  I  have  given  a  great  deal  of 
thought  to  the  whole  matter  of  reservations  proposed  in  con- 
nection with  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  and  particularly 
that  portion  of  the  treaty  which  contains  the  Covenant  of  the 
League  of  Nations,  and  I  have  been  struck  by  the  fact  that 
practically  every  so-called  reservation  was  in  effect  a  rather 
sweeping  nullification  of  the  terms  of  the  treaty  itself. 

I  hear  of  reservationists  and  mild  reservationists,  but  I  can- 
not understand  the  difference  between  a  nullifier  and  a  mild 
nullifier.  Our  responsibility  as  a  nation  in  this  turning  point 
of  history  is  an  overwhelming  one,  and  if  I  had  the  opportunity 
I  would  beg  everyone  concerned  to  consider  the  matter  in  the 
light  of  what  it  is  possible  to  accomplish  for  humanity  rather 
than  in  the  light  of  special  national  interests. 

If  I  have  been  truly  informed  concerning  the  desire  of  some 
of  your  colleagues  to  know  my  views  in  this  matter,  I  would 
be  very  glad  if  you  should  show  this  letter  to  them. 

Cordially  and  sincerely  yours 

Woodrow  Wilson 

Honorable  Gilbert  M.  Hitchcock 
United  States  Senate 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  215 

ARTICLE  X^ 

Henry  Cabot  Lodge 

[For  a  biographical  sketch  see  page  180.  The  discussion  below 
is  part  of  the  remarks  of  Senator  Lodge  during  his  debate  with 
President  A.  L.  Lowell  of  Harvard  on  March  19,  1919.-] 

Then  comes  Article  X.  That  is  the  most  important  article  in 
the  whole  treaty.  That  is  the  one  that  I  want  the  American 
people  to  consider,  take  it  to  their  homes  and  their  firesides, 
discuss  it,  think  of  it.  If  they  commend  it  the  treaty  will  be 
ratified  and  proclaimed  with  that  in  it.  But  think  of  it  first, 
think  well.  This  article  pledges  us  to  guarantee  the  political 
independence  and  the  territorial  integrity  against  external 
aggression  of  every  nation  a  member  of  the  League.  That  is, 
every  nation  of  the  earth.  We  ask  no  guaranties,  we  have  no 
endangered  frontiers ;  but  we  are  asked  to  guarantee  the  ter- 
ritorial integrity  of  every  nation,  practically,  in  the  world — 
it  will  be  when  the  League  is  complete.  As  it  is  today,  we 
guarantee  the  territorial  integrity  and  political  independence 
of  every  part  of  the  far-flung  British  Empire. 

Now  mark !  A  guaranty  is  never  invoked  except  when  force 
is  needed.  If  we  guaranteed  one  country  in  South  America 
alone,  if  we  were  the  only  guarantor,  and  we  guaranteed  but 
one  country,  we  should  be  bound  to  go  to  the  relief  of  that 
country  with  army  and  navy.  We,  under  that  clause  of  this 
treaty, — it  is  one  of  the  few  that  are  perfectly  clear, — under 
that  clause  of  the  treaty  we  have  got  to  take  our  army  and  our 
navy  and  go  to  war  with  any  country  which  attempts  aggression 
upon  the  territorial  integrity  of  another  member  of  the  League. 

^The  high  contracting  parties  shall  undertake  to  respect  and  preserve 
as  against  external  aggression  the  territorial  integrity  and  existing  political 
independence  of  all  states  members  of  the  League.  In  case  of  any  such 
aggression  or  in  case  of  any  threat  or  danger  of  such  aggression,  the 
Executive  Council  shall  advise  upon  the  means  by  which  the  obligation 
shall  be  fulfilled. —  Covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations,  Article  X. 

"From  "The  League  of  Nations,"  Vol.  II,  No.  2,  April,  1919.  Pub- 
lished by  the  World  Peace  Foundation,  Boston. 


2l6  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

Now,  guaranties  must  be  fulfilled.  They  are  sacred  promises 
—  it  has  been  said  only  morally  binding.  Why,  that  is  all  there 
is  to  a  treaty  between  great  nations.  If  they  are  not  morally 
binding  they  are  nothing  but  "scraps  of  paper."  If  the  United 
States  agrees  to  Article  X,  we  must  carry  it  out  in  letter  and 
in  spirit ;  and  if  it  is  agreed  to  I  should  insist  that  we  did  so, 
because  the  honor  and  good  faith  of  our  country  would  be  at 
stake. 

Now,  that  is  a  tremendous  promise  to  make.  I  ask  those — 
the  fathers  and  the  mothers,  the  sisters  and  the  wives  and  the 
sweethearts — whether  they  are  ready  yet  to  guarantee  the 
political  independence  and  territorial  integrity  of  every  nation 
on  earth  against  external  aggression  and  to  send  the  hope  of 
their  families,  the  hope  of  the  nation,  the  best  of  our  youth, 
forth  into  the  world  on  that  errand  ? 

If  they  are,  it  will  be  done.  If  the  American  people  is  not 
ready  to  do  it,  that  article  will  have  to  go  out  of  the  treaty  or 
be  limited. 

If  that  League  with  that  article  had  existed  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  France  could  not  have  assisted  this  country  to  win  the 
Revolution.  If  that  League  had  existed  in  1898  we  could  not 
have  interfered  and  rescued  Cuba  from  the  clutches  of  Spain ; 
we  should  have  brought  a  war  on  with  all  the  other  nations  of 
the  world. 

Perhaps  the  time  has  come  to  do  it.  I  only  wish  tonight  to 
call  your  attention  to  the  gravity  of  that  promise — to  what  it 
means,  that  it  is  morally  binding,  that  there  is  no  escape  when 
a  guaranty  of  that  sort  is  invoked.  Think  it  over  well ;  that 
is  all  I  ask.  Consider  it.  And  remember  that  we  must  make 
no  promise,  enter  into  no  agreement,  which  we  are  not  going 
to  carry  out  in  letter  and  in  spirit  without  restriction  and 
without  deduction. 


k 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  217 

IS  THE  COVENANT  AMERICAN?^ 
Henry  Cabot  Lodge 

[For  a  biographical  sketch  see  page  180.  The  selection  below  is 
from  the  closing  remarks  of  Senator  Lodge  in  his  debate  with 
President  Lowell.] 

I  repeat  again,  I  want  a  League  of  Nations  that  will  advance 
the  cause  of  peace  on  earth,  that  will  make  war  as  nearly  im- 
possible as  it  can  be  made.  I  want  to  bring  about  a  general 
disarmament.  I  know  arbitration  can  do  much.  I  do  not  wish 
to  put  into  any  league  articles  which  I  believe  impossible  of 
fulfillment  and  which  I  believe  nations  will  readily  abrogate. 
But  I  am  so  firm  a  believer  in  the  strength  of  the  great  peace 
movement  that  I  am  not  ready  to  back  it  by  the  argument  of 
fear.  The  United  States  has  not  come  to  where  she  is  through 
fear.   We  have  known 

That  in  ourselves  our  safety  must  be  sought ; 
That  by  our  own  right  hands  it  must  be  wrought ; 
That  we  must  stand  unpropped  or  be  laid  low. 

We  are  a  great  moral  asset  of  Christian  civilization.  We 
are  all  that  President  Lowell  has  described  as  a  necessity  of  the 
League.  How  did  we  get  there  ?  By  our  own  efforts.  Nobody 
led  us,  nobody  guided  us,  nobody  controlled  us. 

We  have  just  been  told  that  we  are  not  fit  to  be  intrusted 
with  any  care  of  the  South  American  difficulties  if  such  arise, 
and  therefore  we  must  intrust  it  to  some  other  power.  I  object 
to  that.  I  believe  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  just  as 
humane,  just  as  anxious  to  do  right  to  others,  as  any  nation 
in  the  world.  We  have  cared  for  three  of  those  states,  as  I 
have  already  stated — San  Domingo,  Haiti,  and  Nicaragua.  In 
every  instance  war  has  been  stopped  and  civilization  and  peace 
have  progressed. 

Of  course  we  can  guarantee  them.  I  did  not  know  anybody 
ever  said  we  could  not  guarantee  the  boundaries  of  another 

^From  "The  League  of  Nations,"  Vol.  II,  No.  2,  April,  1919. 


2i8  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

state.  We  have  done  it  here  under  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and 
done  it  well.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  was  the  necessary  corollary 
of  Washington's  policy.  I  believe  in  it  because  I  believe  it 
protects  and  defends  and  guards  the  United  States  as  it  has 
for  a  hundred  years.  It  does  not  interfere  with  Europe,  it 
does  not  prevent  our  going  to  the  aid  of  Europe,  but  it 
does  preserve  peace  throughout  this  hemisphere.  There  is  a 
longer  record  of  peace  here  than  you  can  find  in  some  other 
places.  And  we  are  going  to  hand  it  over  to  a  majority  of  other 
nations — a  body  where  we  have  one  vote.  I  do  not  say  the 
time  has  not  come  to  do  it,  but  I  do  say,  Think  well  about  it. 
Consider  it  carefully. 

May  I  venture  a  parable  ?  A  man  is  called  on  an  errand  of 
mercy.  He  springs  to  his  feet  and  rushes  out  into  the  darkness. 
He  does  not  know  the  way.  He  has  no  light.  He  falls  into 
a  trench,  breaks  his  leg,  and  the  errand  of  mercy  remains 
unperformed. 

Another  man  starts  on  the  same  errand  of  mercy.  He  knows 
the  road.  He  knows  where  he  is  traveling.  He  carries  a  light. 
He  performs  the  errand  of  mercy. 

I  wish  to  have  the  American  people  understand  the  road  they 
are  traveling.  I  want  them  to  have  light,  plenty  of  light — 
broad  daylight ;  not  go  through  a  dark  tunnel  of  umbrageous 
words,  with  nothing  to  see  except  at  the  end,  the  dim  red  light 
of  internationalism. 

Let  us  be  careful  where  we  tread.  You  are  asked  to  exchange 
the  government  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  "of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  for  the  people,"  for  a  government  of,  by,  and  for  other 
people.  Be  sure  that  the  exchange  is  for  the  better  and  not  for 
the  worse.  WTien  we  abandon,  if  we  must  abandon, — and  if  the 
American  people  think  we  must  abandon  we  shall  abandon, — 
the  teachings  of  Washington  and  Lincoln,  let  us  be  sure,  as  we 
enter  on  the  road  of  internationalism,  that  we  do  not  go  too 
far  toward  the  sinister  figures  at  the  other  end,  of  Trotzky 
and  Lenine. 

Let  us  do  all  in  the  world  we  can  to  secure  the  peace  of  the 
world,  but  let  us  in  this  most  momentous  time  move  slowly  and 
take  due  consideration  of  our  steps.    I  admit,  I  confess  frankly, 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  219 

that  perhaps  I  speak  with  some  prejudice,  but  there  is  one  thing 
of  which  I  have  said  nothing,  of  which  I  must  say  one  single 
word  before  I  close. 

I  cannot  forget  America.  I  want  my  country  to  go  forth ; 
I  want  her  to  be  a  help  to  humanity,  as  she  has  been.  I  have 
nothing  but  the  kindliest  feelings  for  every  race  on  the  face  of 
the  earth.  I  hope  peace  will  reign  throughout  the  world.  I 
wish  my  country  to  do  everything  she  can  to  bring  about  that 
blessed  consummation.  She  has  never  proved  wanting  yet. 
She  threw  her  sword  into  the  wavering  scales  and  turned  the 
balance  in  favor  of  freedom  and  civilization  against  autocracy 
and  barbarism. 

T  cannot  but  keep  her  interests  in  my  mind.  I  do  not  wish 
the  Republic  to  take  any  detriment.  I  do  not  want  dangers 
heaped  upon  us  that  would  only  cripple  us  in  the  good  work  we 
seek  to  do.  I  would  keep  America  as  she  has  been — not  iso- 
lated, not  prevent  her  from  joining  other  nations  for  these 
great  purposes — but  I  wish  her  to  be  master  of  her  fate.  I  am 
an  American — born  here,  lived  here,  shall  die  here.  I  have 
never  had  but  one  flag,  never  loved  but  one  flag.  I  am  too  old 
to  try  to  love  another,  an  international  flag.  I  have  never  had 
but  one  allegiance,  the  allegiance  to  the  United  States.  Per- 
sonally, T  am  too  old  to  divide  it  now.  My  first  allegiance  must 
stay  where  it  has  always  been,  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  my  own  people. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  this  great  country,  which  has  no  al- 
liances, which  seeks  no  territory,  which  desires  nothing  so  much 
as  to  keep  the  peace  and  save  the  world  from  all  the  horrors  it 
has  been  enduring — I  would  have  her  left  in  a  position  to 
do  that  work  and  not  submit  her  to  a  vote  of  other  nations, 
with  no  resource  except  to  break  a  treaty  which  she  wishes 
to  maintain. 

We  must  not  only  strive  to  keep  the  world  at  peace,  we  must 
try  to  keep  America  as  she  is — I  do  not  mean  outside  a  league, 
but  keep  her  as  she  is  in  her  ideals  and  in  her  principles. 

Therefore,  study  this  question.  Think  of  it.  Think  of  it. 
Remember  that  the  Senate  at  least  will  ultimately  carry  out 
the  wishes  of  the  American  people.     They  must  look  at  it 


220     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

themselves  ;  they  want  the  people  to  look  at  it ;  and  when  that 
is  done  I  have  no  fear  of  the  verdict. 

The  verdict  of  the  people,  while  it  will  be  in  favor  of  doing 
everything  that  this  mighty  nation  can  for  the  preservation  of 
the  world's  peace,  will  not  allow  the  United  States  to  be  put 
into  a  position  where  she  will  be  in  any  degree  injured,  weak- 
ened, or  crippled.  I  wish  to  see  her  stand  as  she  always  has 
stood — for  the  right,  for  mercy,  for  the  help  and  benefit  of  all 
men,  for  the  oppressed  and  those  who  struggle  for  freedom, 
all  alike.  Let  her  go  on  in  her  beneficent  career,  and  I 
would  have  her  stand  as  she  has  always  stood — strong,  alive, 
triumphant,  free. 


VII 
LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES 

THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  LATIN  AMERICA 

WooDROw  Wilson 

[For  a  biographical  sketch  of  Woodrow  Wilson  see  page  183. 
The  address  from  which  the  following  extract  is  taken  was  deliv- 
ered at  Mobile,  Alabama,  several  years  ago,  before  the  Southern 
Commercial  Congress.] 

Your  Excellency,  Mr.  Chairman,  it  is  with  unaffected  pleas- 
ure that  I  find  myself  here  today.  I  once  before  had  the 
pleasure,  in  another  Southern  city,  of  addressing  the  Southern 
Commercial  Congress.  I  then  spoke  of  what  the  future  seemed 
to  hold  in  store  for  this  region,  which  so  many  of  us  love  and 
toward  the  future  of  which  we  all  look  forward  with  so  much 
confidence  and  hope.  But  another  theme  directed  me  here  this 
time.  I  do  not  need  to  speak  of  the  South.  She  has,  perhaps, 
acquired  the  gift  of  speaking  for  herself.  I  come  because  I 
want  to  speak  of  our  present  and  prospective  relations  with  our 
neighbors  to  the  south.  I  deemed  it  a  public  duty,  as  well  as 
a  personal  pleasure,  to  be  here  to  express  for  myself  and  for 
the  government  I  represent  the  welcome  we  all  feel  to  those 
who  represent  the  Latin-American  states. 

The  future,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  going  to  be  very  different 
for  this  hemisphere  from  the  past.  These  states  lying  to  the 
south  of  us,  which  have  always  been  our  neighbors,  will  now 
be  drawn  closer  to  us  by  innumerable  ties  and,  I  hope,  chief 
of  all,  by  the  tie  of  a  common  understanding  of  each  other. 
Interest  does  not  tie  nations  together ;  it  sometimes  separates 
them.  But  sympathy  and  understanding  does  unite  them,  and 
I  believe  that  by  the  new  route  that  is  just  about  to  be  opened, 


22  2     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

while  we  physically  cut  two  continents  asunder,  we  spiritually 
unite  them.    It  is  a  spiritual  union  which  we  seek. 

I  wonder  if  you  realize,  I  wonder  if  your  imaginations  have 
been  filled  with,  the  significance  of  the  tides  of  commerce. 
Your  governor  alluded  in  very  fit  and  striking  terms  to  the 
voyage  of  Columbus,  but  Columbus  took  his  voyage  under  com- 
pulsion of  circumstances.  Constantinople  had  been  captured 
by  the  Turks  and  all  the  routes  of  trade  with  the  East  had  been 
suddenly  closed.  If  there  was  not  a  way  across  the  Atlantic  to 
open  those  routes  again,  they  were  closed  forever,  and  Columbus 
set  out,  not  to  discover  America,  for  he  did  not  know  that  it 
existed,  but  to  discover  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia.  He  set  sail 
for  Cathay  and  stumbled  upon  America.  With  that  change  in 
the  outlook  of  the  world,  what  happened  ?  England,  that  had 
been  at  the  back  of  Europe  with  an  unknown  sea  behind  her, 
found  that  all  things  had  turned  as  if  upon  a  pivot,  and  she  was 
at  the  front  of  Europe ;  and  since  then  all  the  tides  of  energy 
and  enterprise  that  have  issued  out  of  Europe  have  seemed  to 
be  turned  westward  across  the  Atlantic.  But  you  will  notice 
that  they  have  turned  westward  chiefly  north  of  the  equator, 
and  that  it  is  the  northern  half  of  the  globe  that  has  seemed  to 
be  filled  with  the  media  of  intercourse  and  of  sympathy  and  of 
common  understanding. 

Do  you  not  see  now  what  is  abdut  to  happen  ?  These  great 
tides  which  have  been  running  along  parallels  of  latitude  will 
now  swing  southward  athwart  parallels  of  latitude,  and  that 
opening  gate  at  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  will  open  the  world 
to  a  commerce  that  she  has  not  known  before, —  a  commerce 
of  intelligence,  of  thought  and  sympathy  between  north  and 
south.  The  Latin-American  states,  which,  to  their  disadvantage, 
have  been  off  the  main  lines,  will  now  be  on  the  main  lines. 
I  feel  that  these  gentlemen  honoring  us  with  their  presence 
today  will  presently  find  that  some  part,  at  any  rate,  of  the 
center  of  gravity  of  the  world  has  shifted.  Do  you  realize  that 
New  York,  for  example,  will  be  nearer  the  western  coast  of 
South  America  than  she  is  now  to  the  eastern  coast  of  South 
America  ?  Do  you  realize  that  a  line  drawn  northward  parallel 
with  the  greater  part  of  the  western  coast  of  South  America  runs 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES         223 

only  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  west  of  New  York? 
The  great  bulk  of  South  America,  if  you  will  look  at  your  globes 
(not  at  your  Mercator's  projection),  lies  eastward  of  the  conti- 
nent of  North  America.  You  will  realize  that  when  you  realize 
that  the  canal  will  run  southeast,  not  southwest,  and  that  when 
you  get  into  the  Pacific  you  will  be  farther  east  than  you  were 
when  you  left  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  These  things  are  significant, 
therefore,  of  this, —  that  we  are  closing  one  chapter  in  the  his- 
torj'  of  the  world  and  are  opening  another  of  great,  unimaginable 
significance. 

There  is  one  peculiarity  about  the  history  of  the  Latin- 
American  states  which,  I  am  sure,  they  are  keenly  aware  of. 
You  hear  of  "concessions"  to  foreign  capitalists  in  Latin 
America.  You  do  not  hear  of  concessions  to  foreign  capitalists 
in  the  United  States.  They  are  not  granted  concessions.  They 
are  invited  to  make  investments.  The  work  is  ours,  though  they 
are  welcome  to  invest  in  it.  We  do  not  ask  them  to  supply  the 
capital  and  do  the  work.  It  is  an  invitation,  not  a  privilege ; 
and  states  that  are  obliged,  because  their  territory  does  not  lie 
within  the  main  field  of  modern  enterprise  and  action,  to  grant 
concessions  are  in  this  condition,  that  foreign  interests  are  apt  to 
dominate  their  domestic  affairs, — .a  condition  of  affairs  always 
dangerous  and  apt  to  become  intolerable.  What  these  states  are 
going  to  see,  therefore,  is  an  emancipation  from  the  subordi- 
nation, which  has  been  inevitable,  to  foreign  enterprise  and  an 
assertion  of  the  splendid  character  which,  in  spite  of  these  diffi- 
culties, they  have  again  and  again  been  able  to  demonstrate. 
The  dignity,  the  courage,  the  self-possession,  the  self-respect,  of 
the  Latin-American  states,  their  achievements  in  the  face  of  all 
these  adverse  circumstances,  deserve  nothing  but  the  admiration 
and  applause  of  the  world.  They  have  had  harder  bargains 
driven  with  them  in  the  matter  of  loans  than  any  other  peoples 
in  the  world.  Interest  has  been  exacted  of  them  that  was  not 
exacted  of  anybody  else,  because  the  risk  was  said  to  be 
greater ;  and  then  securities  were  taken  that  destroyed  the 
risk, — an  admirable  arrangement  for  those  who  were  forcing 
the  terms.  I  rejoice  in  nothing  so  much  as  in  the  prospect  that 
they  will  now  be  emancipated  from  these  conditions ;  and  we 


2  24  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

ought  to  be  the  first  to  take  part  in  assisting  in  that  emancipa- 
tion. I  think  some  of  these  gentlemen  have  already  had  occasion 
to  bear  witness  that  the  Department  of  State  in  recent  months 
has  tried  to  serve  them  in  that  wise.  In  the  future  they  will 
draw  closer  and  closer  to  us  because  of  circumstances  of  which  I 
wish  to  speak  with  moderation  and,  I  hope,  without  indiscretion. 

We  must  prove  ourselves  their  friends  and  champions  upon 
terms  of  equality  and  honor.  You  cannot  be  friends  upon  any 
other  terms  than  upon  the  terms  of  equality.  You  cannot  be 
friends  at  all  except  upon  the  terms  of  honor.  We  must  show 
ourselves  friends  by  comprehending  their  interest,  whether  it 
squares  with  our  own  interest  or  not.  It  is  a  very  perilous 
thing  to  determine  the  foreign  policy  of  a  nation  to  the  terms 
of  material  interest.  It  not  only  is  unfair  to  those  with 
whom  you  are  dealing  but  it  is  degrading  as  regards  your 
own  actions. 

Comprehension  must  be  the  soil  in  which  shall  grow  all  the 
fruits  of  friendship ;  and  there  is  a  reason  and  a  compulsion 
lying  behind  all  this  which  is  dearer  than  anything  else  to  the 
thoughtful  men  of  America.  I  mean  the  development  of  con- 
stitutional liberty  in  the  world.  Human  rights,  national  in- 
tegrity, and  opportunity  as  against  material  interests, — that, 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  the  issue  which  we  now  have  to  face. 
I  want  to  take  this  occasion  to  say  that  the  United  States 
will  never  again  seek  one  additional  foot  of  territory  by  con- 
quest. She  will  devote  herself  to  showing  that  she  knows  how 
to  make  honorable  and  fruitful  use  of  the  territory  she  has,  and 
she  must  regard  it  as  one  of  the  duties  of  friendship  to  see  that 
from  no  quarter  are  material  interests  made  superior  to  human 
liberty  and  national  opportunity.  I  say  this,  not  with  a  single 
thought  that  anyone  will  gainsay  it  but  merely  to  fix  in  our 
consciousness  what  our  real  relationship  with  the  rest  of 
America  is.  It  is  the  relationship  of  a  family  of  mankind 
devoted  to  the  development  of  true  constitutional  liberty. 
We  know  that  that  is  the  soil  out  of  which  the  best  enter- 
prise springs.  We  know  that  this  is  a  cause  which  we  are 
making  in  common  with  our  neighbors,  because  we  have  had 
to  make  it  for  ourselves. 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES         225 

Reference  has  been  made  here  today  to  some  of  the  national 
problems  which  confront  us  as  a  nation.  What  is  at  the  heart 
of  all  our  national  problems?  It  is  that  we  have  seen  the 
hand  of  material  interest  sometimes  about  to  close  upon  our 
dearest  rights  and  possessions.  We  have  seen  material  interests 
threaten  constitutional  freedom  in  the  United  States.  There- 
fore we  will  now  know  how  to  sympathize  with  those  in  the  rest 
of  America  who  have  to  contend  with  such  powers,  not  only 
within  their  borders  but  from  outside  their  borders  also. 

I  know  what  the  response  of  the  thought  and  heart  of 
America  will  be  to  the  program  I  have  outlined,  because  America 
was  created  to  realize  a  program  like  that.  This  is  not  America 
because  it  is  rich.  This  is  not  America  because  it  has  set  up 
for  a  great  population  great  opportunities  of  material  prosper- 
ity. America  is  a  name  which  sounds  in  the  ears  of  men  every- 
where as  a  synonym  with  individual  opportunity  because  a 
synonym  of  individual  liberty.  I  would  rather  belong  to  a 
poor  nation  that  was  free  than  to  a  rich  nation  that  had  ceased 
to  be  in  love  with  liberty.  But  we  shall  not  be  poor  if  we  love 
liberty,  because  the  nation  that  loves  liberty  truly  sets  every 
man  free  to  do  his  best  and  be  his  best,  and  that  means  the 
release  of  all  the  splendid  energies  of  a  great  people  who  think 
for  themselves.  A  nation  of  employees  cannot  be  free  any 
more  than  a  nation  of  employers  can  be. 

In  emphasizing  the  points  which  must  unite  us  in  sympathy 
and  in  spiritual  interest  with  the  Latin-American  peoples,  we 
are  only  emphasizing  the  points  of  our  own  life,  and  we  should 
prove  ourselves  untrue  to  our  own  traditions  if  we  proved  our- 
selves untrue  friends  to  them.  Do  not  think,  therefore,  gentle- 
men, that  the  questions  of  the  day  are  mere  questions  of  policy 
and  diplomacy.  They  are  shot  through  with  the  principles  of 
life.  We  dare  not  turn  from  the  principle  that  morality  and 
not  expediency  is  the  thing  that  must  guide  us,  and  that  we 
will  never  condone  iniquity  because  it  is  most  convenient  to  do 
so.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  a  day  of  infinite  hope,  of  con- 
fidence in  a  future  greater  than  the  past  has  been,  for  I  am 
fain  to  believe  that,  in  spite  of  all  the  things  that  we  wish  to 
correct,  the  nineteenth  century  that  now  lies  behind  us  has 


226     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

brought  us  a  long  stage  toward  the  time  when,  slowly  ascending 
the  tedious  climb  that  leads  to  the  final  uplands,  we  shall  get 
our  ultimate  view  of  the  duties  of  mankind.  We  have  breasted 
a  considerable  part  of  that  climb  and  shall  presently — it  may 
be  in  a  generation  or  two — come  out  upon  those  great  heights 
where  there  shines  unobstructed  the  light  of  the  justice  of  God. 


OUR  LATIN-AMERICAN  POLICY^ 

Richard  Olney 

[Richard  Olney  (1835-1917)  was  educated  at  Brown  and  Harvard 
universities  and  was  a  member  of  President  Cleveland's  Cabinet 
from  1893  to  1897,  first  as  attorney-general  and  then  as  Secretary  of 
State.  The  chief  incident  of  his  term  of  office  was  the  Venezuela 
Affair,  in  which  the  United  States  by  a  rather  tart  note  induced 
Great  Britain  to  refer  her  boundary  dispute  with  Venezuela  to 
arbitration.] 

Within  a  short  period  the  United  States  has  developed  a 
distinctive  rule  of  action  in  respect  of  Latin  America,  which  in 
one  sense  certainly  is  in  the  interest  of  Europe  and  not  against 
it,  and  whose  only  connection  with  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  the 
desire  and  purpose  of  the  United  States  to  avoid  any  clash 
with  Europe  over  the  practical  application  of  the  doctrine. 
Perhaps  what  has  been  done  in  the  course  of  developing  the 
new  policy  may  be  considered  as  a  tacit  acknowledgment  and 
acceptance  of  the  claims  of  European  jurists  and  statesmen, 
that  if  the  United  States  assumes  to  protect  the  political  inde- 
pendence and  territorial  integrity  of  other  American  states,  it 
must  see  to  it  that  such  states  abide  by  and  perform  their 
international  duties  and  obligations.  At  all  events,  that  is  what 
the  United  States  has  been  doing  and  is  doing  with  the  ac- 
quiescence of  European  states  in  various  well-known  instances. 
Instead  of  standing  by  and  looking  on  while  a  European  state 
enforces  its  international  rights  as  against  a  lawless  or  defaulting 

iprom  the  North  American  Review,  February,  1916.  Reprinted  by 
permission. 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES         227 

American  state,  the  United  States  has  intervened,  has  in  effect 
warned  the  European  state  concerned  off  the  premises,  and 
has  itself  caused  international  justice  to  be  done.  It  has  under- 
taken the  protection  of  the  lives  and  property  of  Europeans 
when  threatened  by  riots  and  revolutionary  movements.  It  has 
exacted  indemnities  and  penalties  for  injuries  suffered  by  them, 
and  has  collected  debts  for  European  states  and  their  citizens  by 
occupying  ports  and  collecting  and  applying  customs  revenues. 
In  cases  of  this  sort  it  has,  in  effect,  charged  itself  with  duties 
and  trusts  analogous  to  those  devolving  upon  the  receiver  of  a 
bankrupt  corporation. 

Consequently,  whether  the  supplemental  policy  above  sketched 
is  or  is  not  the  logical  and  inevitable  sequence  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine,  it  is  now  no  longer  aimed  at  Europe  only,  but  also 
trenches  upon  American  states  themselves.  It  is  a  policy, 
indeed,  which  as  respects  such  states  impairs  their  independ- 
ence. It  does  not  alter  the  case  that  the  intervention  of  the 
United  States  in  the  manner  described  may  be  for  the  best  good 
of  such  states.  Such  intervention  is  in  clear  conflict  with  the 
basic  principle  of  international  law,  which  asserts  the  absolute 
equality  inter  sese  of  all  states,  great  and  small. 

But  our  Latin-American  policy,  hitherto  practically  limited 
to  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  its  corollaries,  has  necessarily 
taken  on  a  wholly  new  development  by  reason  of  our  acquisition 
of  the  Panama  Canal  and  the  Panama  Zone.  The  United 
States  is  now  a  South-American  power,  with  extensive  territorial 
interests  acquired  at  immense  cost.  It  holds  the  Canal  in 
double  trust — on  the  one  hand  for  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  on  whose  behalf  it  is  bound  to  make  the  operation  of 
the  Canal  efficient  and,  if  possible,  fairly  remunerative ;  on  the 
other  hand  for  the  world  at  large,  on  whose  behalf  it  is  pledged 
to  give  to  all  nations  the  like  facilities  in  the  use  of  the  Canal 
upon  equal  terms.  In  both  relations  it  has  assumed  to  protect 
the  Canal  against  all  assaults  from  every  quarter,  whether  they 
come  in  the  shape  of  military  invasion  or  of  economic  com- 
petition. Hence,  on  the  one  hand  the  United  States  has  forti- 
fied the  Canal  and  will  undoubtedly  take  all  other  measures 
necessary  to  protect  it  against  military  attack.    Hence,  on  the 


228     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

other  hand  the  United  States  has  initiated  measures  looking  to 
the  preemption  of  all  other  routes  practicable  for  a  rival  canal. 

It  sufficiently  appears  from  these  premises  that  the  Latin- 
American  policy  of  the  United  States  now  has  the  following 
objects :  first,  to  secure  every  American  state  against  loss  of 
independence  or  territory  at  the  hands  of  a  European  power, 
as  means  to  which  end  the  United  States  will  resist  aggression 
by  such  power  by  force  of  arms,  if  necessary,  while,  in  the  case 
of  the  weak  and  backward  states,  removing  any  excuse  for  such 
aggression  by  itself  seeing  to  the  performance  of  their  inter- 
national duties ;  second,  to  secure  its  interests  in  the  Panama 
Canal  by  whatever  military  measures  may  be  appropriate  or 
necessary ;  and,  third,  to  protect  its  interests  in  the  Panama 
Canal  and  Zone  by  whatever  measures  may  be  appropriate  and 
necessary  to  prevent  unjust  and  ruinous  competition. 

These  being  the  general  objects  aimed  at  by  our  present 
Latin-American  policy,  what  is  the  best  and  most  obvious 
course  for  the  United  States  to  pursue  in  order  to  insure  their 
accomplishment  ?  The  efforts  of  the  present  administration  for 
the  pacification  of  ^Mexico  distinctly  point  the  way  to  the  course 
to  be  pursued.  The  striking  feature  of  those  efforts  is  the 
cooperation  between  the  United  States  and  South-American 
states.  That  the  cooperation  has  been  highly  beneficial  to  all 
interests  concerned  is  unquestionable,  and,  should  normal  con- 
ditions in  ISIexico  follow,  as  now  seems  probable,  it  must  be 
largely  credited  with  the  result.  Nevertheless,  and  however 
more  or  less  valuable  such  cooperation  in  this  particular  in- 
stance, its  chief  value  lies  in  its  tendency  to  introduce  into  our 
Latin-American  policy  a  new  and  important  factor,  which  in  all 
respects — ethical,  political,  and  practical — should  operate  de- 
cidedly to  the  advantage  of  the  United  States  and  all  American 
states. 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES         229 

THE  TESTS  OF  SELF-GOVERNMENT ^ 
WooDROw  Wilson 

[For  a  biographical  sketch  see  page  183.  The  discussion  given 
below  is  extracted  from  an  article  entitled  "The  Ideals  of  America," 
which,  though  written  at  the  time  of  the  beginning  of  American  ex- 
pansion, describes  clearly  the  consistent  attitude  of  President  Wilson 
toward  recognizing  new  governments.] 

"I  should  suspend  my  congratulations  on  the  new  liberty  of 
France,"  said  Burke, — the  master  who  had  known  our  liberty 
for  what  it  was,  and  knew  this  set  up  in  France  to  be  spurious, 
— "I  should  suspend  my  congratulations  on  the  new  liberty  of 
France  until  I  was  informed  how  it  had  been  combined  with 
government ;  with  public  force ;  with  the  discipline  ajid 
obedience  of  armies ;  with  the  collection  of  an  effective  and 
well-distributed  revenue ;  with  morality  and  religion ;  with 
solidity  of  property ;  with  peace  and  order ;  with  social  and 
civil  manners."  Has  it  not  taken  France  a  century  to  effect  the 
combination,  and  are  all  men  sure  that  she  has  found  it  even 
now?  And  yet  were  not  these  things  combined  with  liberty 
amongst  us  from  the  very  first  ? 

How  interesting  a  light  shines  upon  the  matter  of  our  thought 
out  of  that  sentence  of  Burke's !  How  liberty  had  been  com- 
bined with  government !  Is  there  here  a  difficulty,  then  ?  Are 
the  two  things  not  kindly  disposed  toward  one  another  ?  Does 
it  require  any  nice  art  and  adjustment  to  unite  and  reconcile 
them?  Is  there  here  some  cardinal  test  which  those  amiable 
persons  have  overlooked,  who  have  dared  to  cheer  the  Filipino 
rebels  on  in  their  stubborn  resistance  to  the  very  government 
they  themselves  live  under  and  owe  fealty  to  ?  Think  of  Wash- 
ington's passion  for  order,  for  authority,  for  some  righteous 
public  force  which  should  teach  individuals  their  place  under 
government,  for  solidity  of  property,  for  morality  and  sober 
counsel.    It  was  plain  that  he  cared  not  a  whit  for  liberty 

1  From  the  Atlantic  Monthly, \o\.  XC,  p.  721.  Reprinted  by  permission. 


230  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

without  these  things  to  sustain  and  give  it  dignity.  "You  talk, 
my  good  sir,"  he  exclaimed,  writing  to  Henry  Lee  in  Congress, 
"you  talk  of  employing  influence  to  appease  the  present  tumults 
in  Massachusetts.  I  know  not  where  that  influence  is  to  be 
found,  or,  if  attainable,  that  it  would  be  a  proper  remedy  for 
the  disorders.  Influence  is  no  government.  Let  us  have  one 
by  which  our  lives,  liberties,  and  properties  will  be  secured,  or 
let  us  know  the  worst  at  once."  In  brief,  the  fact  is  this,  that 
liberty  is  the  privilege  of  maturity,  of  self-control,  of  self- 
mastery,  and  a  thoughtful  care  for  righteous  dealings, — that 
some  peoples  may  have  it,  therefore,  and  others  may  not. 

We  look  back  to  the  great  men  who  made  our  government  as 
to  a  generation  not  of  revolutionists  but  of  statesmen.  They 
fought,  not  to  pull  down  but  to  preserve ;  not  for  some  fair  and 
far-off  thing  they  wished  for,  but  for  a  familiar  thing  they  had 
and  meant  to  keep.  Ask  any  candid  student  of  the  history  of 
English  liberty,  and  he  will  tell  you  that  these  men  were,  of 
the  lineage  of  Pym  and  Hampden,  of  Pitt  and  Fox ;  that  they 
were  men  who  consecrated  their  lives  to  the  preservation  intact 
of  what  had  been  wrought  out  in  blood  and  sweat  by  the  count- 
less generations  of  sturdy  freemen  who  had  gone  before  them. 

Look  for  a  moment  at  what  self-government  really  meant  in 
their  time.  Take  English  history  for  your  test.  I  know  not 
where  else  you  may  find  an  answer  to  the  question.  We  speak, 
all  the  world  speaks,  of  England  as  the  mother  of  liberty  and 
self-government ;  and  the  beginning  of  her  liberty  we  place  in 
the  great  year  that  saw  Magna  Charta  signed,  that  immortal 
document  whose  phrases  ring  again  in  all  our  own  bills  of 
rights.  Her  liberty  is  in  fact  older  than  that  signal  year,  but 
1215  we  set  up  as  a  shining  mark  to  hold  the  eye.  And  yet  we 
know,  for  all  we  boast  the  date  so  early,  how  for  many  a  long 
generation  after  that  the  monarch  ruled  and  the  Commons 
cringed  ;  haughty  Plantagenets  had  their  way,  and  indomitable 
Tudors  played  the  master  to  all  men's  fear,  till  the  fated  Stuarts 
went  their  stupid  way  to  exile  and  the  scaffold.  Kings  were 
none  the  less  kings  because  their  subjects  were  free  men. 

Local  self-government  in  England  consisted  until  1888 
of  government  by  almost   omnipotent  justices   of   the  peace 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES         231 

appointed  by  the  Lord  Chancellor.  They  were  laymen,  however. 
They  were  country  gentlemen  and  served  without  pay.  They 
were  of  the  neighborhood  and  used  their  power  for  its  benefit 
as  their  lights  served  them,  but  no  man  had  a  vote  or  choice 
as  to  which  of  the  country  gentlemen  of  his  county  should  be 
set  over  him,  and  the  power  of  the  justices  sitting  in  quarter 
sessions  covered  almost  every  point  of  justice  and  administra- 
tion not  directly  undertaken  by  the  officers  of  the  crown  itself. 

"Long  ago,"  laughs  an  English  writer,  "lawyers  abandoned 
the  hope  of  describing  the  duties  of  a  Justice  in  any  methodic 
fashion,  and  the  alphabet  has  become  the  only  possible  con- 
necting thread.  A  Justice  must  have  something  to  do  with '  Rail- 
roads, Rape,  Rates,  Recognizances,  Records,  and  Recreation 
Grounds ' ;  with  '  Perjury,  Petroleum,  Piracy,  and  Playhouses ' ; 
with  'Disorderly  Houses,  Dissenters,  Dogs,  and  Drainage.'" 
And  yet  Englishmen  themselves  called  their  life  under  these 
lay  masters  self-government. 

The  English  House  of  Commons  was  for  many  a  generation, 
many  a  century  even,  no  House  of  Commons  at  all,  but  a 
house  full  of  country  gentlemen  and  rich  burghers,  the  aristoc- 
racy of  the  English  counties  and  English  towns  ;  and  yet  it  was 
from  this  House,  and  not  from  that  reformed  since  1832,  that 
the  world  drew,  through  Montesquieu,  its  models  of  represent- 
ative self-government  in  the  days  when  our  own  Union  was 
set  up. 

In  America,  and  in  America  alone,  did  self-government  mean 
an  organization  self-originated  and  of  the  stuff  of  the  people 
themselves.  America  had  gone  a  step  beyond  her  mother  coun- 
try. Her  people  were  for  the  most  part  picked  men — such 
men  as  have  the  energy  and  the  initiative  to  leave  old  homes 
and  old  friends  and  go  to  far  frontiers  to  make  a  new  life  for 
themselves.  They  were  men  of  a  certain  initiative,  to  take  the 
world  into  their  own  hands.  The  king  had  given  them  their 
charters,  but  within  the  broad  definitions  of  those  charters  they 
had  built  as  they  pleased,  and  common  men  were  partners  in  the 
government  of  their  little  commonwealths.  At  home,  in  the  old 
country,  there  was  need,  no  doubt,  that  the  hand  of  the  king's 
government  should  keep  men  within  its  reach.  The  countrysides 


232  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

were  full  of  yokels  who  would  have  been  brutes  to  deal  with 
else.  The  counties  were  in  fact  represented  very  well  by  the 
country  gentlemen  who  ruled  them,  for  they  were  full  of  broad 
estates  where  men  were  tenants,  not  freehold  farmers,  and  the 
interests  of  masters  were  generally  enough  the  interests  of 
their  men.  The  towns  had  charters  of  their  own.  There  was 
here  no  democratic  community,  and  no  one  said  or  thought 
that  the  only  self-government  was  democratic  self-government. 
In  America  the  whole  constitution  of  society  was  democratic, 
inevitably  and  of  course.  INIen  lay  close  to  their  simple  gov- 
ernments, and  the  new  life  brought  to  a  new  expression  the 
immemorial  English  principle,  that  the  intimate  affairs  of  local 
administration  and  the  common  interests  that  were  to  be  served 
in  the  making  of  laws  should  be  committed  to  laymen,  who 
would  look  at  the  government  critically  and  from  without,  and 
not  to  the  king's  agents,  who  would  look  at  it  professionally  and 
from  within.  England  had  had  self-government  time  out  of 
mind,  but  in  America  English  self-government  had  become 
popular  self-government. 

"Almost  all  the  civilized  states  derive  their  national  unity," 
says  a  great  English  writer  of  our  generation,  ''from  common 
subjection,  past  or  present,  to  royal  power ;  the  Americans  of 
the  United  States,  for  example,  are  a  nation  because  they  once 
obeyed  a  king."  That  example  in  such  a  passage  comes  upon 
us  with  a  shock;  it  is  very  unexpected, — ''the  Americans  of 
the  United  States,  for  example,  are  a  nation  because  they  once 
obeyed  a  king !  "  And  yet,  upon  reflection,  can  we  deny  the 
example  ?  It  is  plain  enough  that  the  reason  why  the  English 
in  America  got  self-government  and  knew  how  to  use  it,  and 
the  French  in  America  did  not,  was  that  the  English  had  had 
a  training  under  the  kings  of  England  and  the  French  under 
the  kings  of  France.  In  the  one  country  men  did  all  things  at 
the  bidding  of  officers  of  the  crown ;  in  the  other,  officers  of  the 
crown  listened,  were  constrained  to  listen,  to  the  counsels  of 
laymen  drawn  out  of  the  general  body  of  the  nation.  x'\nd 
yet  the  kings  of  England  were  no  less  kings  than  the  kings  of 
France.  Obedience  is  everywhere  the  basis  of  government,  and 
the  English  were  not  ready  either  in  their  life  or  in  their  thought 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES         233 

for  a  free  regime  under  which  they  should  choose  their  kings 
b}^  ballot.  For  that  regime  they  could  be  made  ready  only  by 
the  long  drill  which  should  make  them  respect  above  all  things 
the  law  and  the  authority  of  governors.  Discipline — discipline 
generations  deep — had  first  to  give  them  an  ineradicable  love 
of  order,  the  poise  of  men  self-commanded,  the  spirit  of  men 
who  obey  and  yet  speak  their  minds  and  are  free,  before  they 
could  be  Americans. 

This  is  what  Burke  meant  by  combining  government  with 
liberty, —  the  spirit  of  obedience  with  the  spirit  of  free  action, 
Libert}'^  is  not  itself  government.  In  the  wrong  hands — hands 
unpracticed,  undisciplined — it  is  incompatible  with  govern- 
ment. Discipline  must  precede  it, —  if  necessary,  the  discipline 
of  being  under  masters.  Then  will  self-control  make  it  a  thing 
of  life  and  not  a  thing  of  tumult,  a  tonic,  not  an  insurgent 
madness  in  the  blood.  Shall  we  doubt,  then,  what  the  condi- 
tions precedent  to  liberty  and  self-government  are,  and  what 
their  invariable  support  and  accompaniment  must  be,  in  the 
countries  whose  administration  we  have  taken  over  in  trust, 
and  particularly  in  those  far  Philippine  Islands  whose  govern- 
ment is  our  chief  anxiety  ?  We  cannot  give  them  any  quittance 
of  the  debt  ourselves  have  paid.  They  can  have  liberty  no 
cheaper  than  we  got  it.  They  must  first  take  the  discipline  of 
law,  must  first  love  order  and  instinctively  yield  to  it.  It  is 
the  heathen,  not  the  free  citizen  of  a  self-governed  country, 
who  "  in  his  blindness  bows  down  to  wood  and  stone,  and  don't 
obey  no  orders  unless  they  is  his  own."  We  are  old  in  this 
learning  and  must  be  their  tutors. 

There  are,  unhappily,  some  indications  that  we  have  our- 
selves yet  to  learn  the  things  we  would  teach.  You  have  but 
to  think  of  the  large  number  of  persons  of  your  own  kith  and 
acquaintance  who  have  for  the  past  two  years  been  demanding, 
in  print  and  out  of  it,  with  moderation  and  the  air  of  reason 
and  without  it,  that  we  give  the  Philippines  independence  and 
self-government  now,  at  once,  out  of  hand.  It  were  easy 
enough  to  give  them  independence,  if  by  independence  you 
mean  only  disconnection  with  any  government  outside  the 
islands,  the  independence  of  a  rudderless  boat  adrift.     But 


234  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

self-government?  How  is  that  "given"?  Can  it  be  given? 
Is  it  not  gained,  earned,  graduated  into  from  the  hard  school 
of  life?  We  have  reason  to  think  so.  I  have  just  now  been 
trying  to  give  the  reasons  we  have  for  thinking  so. 

There  are  many  things,  things  slow  and  difficult  to  come  at, 
which  we  have  found  to  be  conditions  precedent  to  liberty, — 
to  the  liberty  which  can  be  combined  with  government ;  and  we 
cannot,  in  our  present  situation,  too  often  remind  ourselves  of 
these  things,  in  order  that  we  may  look  steadily  and  wisely  upon 
liberty,  not  in  the  uncertain  light  of  theory  but  in  the  broad, 
sunlike,  disillusioning  light  of  experience.  We  know  for  one 
thing  that  it  rests  at  bottom  upon  a  clear,  experimental  knowl- 
edge of  what  are  in  fact  the  just  rights  of  individuals,  of  what 
is  the  equal  and  profitable  balance  to  be  maintained  between 
the  right  of  the  individual  to  serve  himself  and  the  duty  of  the 
government  to  serve  society.  I  say,  not  merely  a  clear  knowl- 
edge of  these,  but  a  clear  experimental  knowledge  of  them  as 
well.  We  hold  it,  for  example,  an  indisputable  principle  of  law 
in  a  free  state  that  there  should  be  freedom  of  speech,  and  yet 
we  have  a  law  of  libel.  No  man,  we  say,  may  speak  that  which 
Wounds  his  neighbor's  reputation  unless  there  be  public  need 
to  speak  it.  IMoreover,  we  will  judge  of  that  need  in  a  rough- 
and-ready  fashion.  Let  twelve  ordinary  men,  impaneled  as 
a  jury,  say  whether  the  wound  was  justly  given  and  of 
necessity.  "The  truth  of  the  matter  is  very  simple  when 
stripped  of  all  ornaments  of  speech,"  says  an  eminent  English 
judge.  "It  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  this  ;  that  a  man  may 
publish  anything  which  twelve  of  his  fellow  countrymen  think 
is  not  blamable."  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  in  this  case  at 
least  we  do  not  inquire  curiously  concerning  the  rights  of  man, 
which  do  not  seem  susceptible  of  being  stated  in  terms  of  social 
obligation,  but  content  ourselves  with  asking.  What  are  the 
rights  of  men  living  together,  amongst  whom  there  must  be 
order  and  fair  give-and-take  ?  And  our  law  of  libel  is  only  one 
instance  out  of  many.  We  treat  all  rights  in  like  practical 
fashion.  But  a  people  must  obviously  have  had  experience  to 
treat  them  so.  You  have  here  one  image  in  the  mirror  of 
self-government. 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES         235 

Do  not  leave  the  mirror  before  you  see  another  one.  You 
cannot  call  a  miscellaneous  people,  unknit,  scattered,  diverse  of 
race  and  speech  and  habit,  "a  nation,"  "a  community."  That, 
at  least,  we  got  by  serving  under  kings  ;  we  got  the  feeling  and 
organic  structure  of  a  community.  No  people  can  form  a  com- 
munity or  be  wisely  subjected  to  common  forms  of  government 
who  are  as  diverse  and  as  heterogeneous  as  the  people  of  the 
Philippine  Islands.  They  are  in  no  wise  knit  together.  They 
are  of  many  races,  of  many  stages  of  development,  econom- 
ically, socially,  politically  distintegrate,  without  community  of 
feeling  because  without  community  of  life,  contrasted  alike  in 
experience  and  in  habit,  having  nothing  in  common  except  that 
they  have  lived  for  hundreds  of  years  together  under  a  govern- 
ment which  held  them  always  where  they  were  when  it  first 
arrested  their  development.  You  may  imagine  the  problem  of 
self-government  and  of  growth  for  such  a  people,  if  so  be  you 
have  an  imagination  and  are  no  doctrinaire.  If  there  is  diffi- 
culty in  our  own  government  here  at  home  because  the  several 
sections  of  our  own  country  are  disparate  and  at  different  stages 
of  development,  what  shall  we  expect,  and  what  patience  shall 
we  not  demand  of  ourselves,  with  regard  to  our  belated  wards 
beyond  the  Pacific?  We  have  here  among  ourselves  hardly 
sufficient  equality  of  social  and  economic  conditions  to  breed 
full  community  of  feeling.  We  have  learned  of  our  own  ex- 
perience what  the  problem  of  self-government  is  in  such  a  case. 

No  doubt  our  study  of  these  things  which  lie  at  the  front 
of  our  own  lives,  and  which  must  be  handled  in  our  own  prog- 
ress, will  teach  us  how  to  be  better  masters  and  tutors  to  those 
whom  we  govern.  We  have  come  to  full  maturity  with  this  new 
century  of  our  national  existence  and  to  full  self-consciousness 
as  a  nation.  And  the  day  of  our  isolation  is  past.  We  shall  learn 
much  ourselves  now  that  we  stand  closer  to  other  nations  and 
compare  ourselves  first  with  one  and  again  with  another.  More- 
over, the  center  of  gravity  has  shifted  in  the  action  of  our 
Federal  government.  It  has  shifted  back  to  where  it  was  at 
the  opening  of  the  last  century,  in  that  early  day  when  we  were 
passing  from  the  gristle  to  the  bone  of  our  growth.  For  the  first 


236     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

twenty-six  years  that  we  lived  under  our  Federal  constitution, 
foreign  affairs,  the  sentiment  and  policy  of  nations  over  sea, 
dominated  our  politics,  and  our  presidents  were  our  leaders. 
And  now  the  same  thing  has  come  about  again.  Once  more  it 
is  our  place  among  the  nations  that  we  think  of ;  once  more 
our  presidents  are  our  leaders. 

The  center  of  our  party  management  shifts  accordingly. 
We  no  longer  stop  upon  questions  of  what  this  state  wants  or 
that,  what  this  section  will  demand  or  the  other,  what  this  boss 
or  that  may  do  to  attach  his  machine  to  the  government.  The 
scale  of  our  thought  is  national  again.  We  are  sensitive  to  airs 
that  come  to  us  from  off  the  seas.  The  President  and  his  ad- 
visers stand  upon  our  chief  coign  of  observation,  and  we  mark 
their  words  as  we  did  not  till  this  change  came.  And  this 
centering  of  our  thoughts,  this  looking  for  guidance  in  things 
which  mere  managing  talents  cannot  handle,  this  union  of  our 
hopes,  will  not  leave  us  what  we  were  when  first  it  came.  Here 
is  a  new  world  for  us.  Here  is  a  new  life  to  which  to  adjust 
our  ideals. 

It  is  by  the  widening  of  vision  that  nations,  as  men,  grow 
and  are  made  great.  We  need  not  fear  the  expanding  scene. 
It  was  plain  destiny  that  we  should  come  to  this,  and  if  we  have 
kept  our  ideals  clear,  unmarred,  commanding  through  the  great 
century  and  the  moving  scenes  that  made  us  a  nation,  we  may 
keep  them  also  through  the  century  that  shall  see  us  a  great 
power  in  the  world.  Let  us  put  our  leading  characters  at  the 
front ;  let  us  pray  that  vision  may  come  with  power ;  let  us 
ponder  our  duties  like  men  of  conscience  and  temper  our 
ambitions  like  men  who  seek  to  serve,  not  to  subdue,  the 
world  ;  let  us  lift  our  thoughts  to  the  level  of  the  great  tasks 
that  await  us,  and  bring  a  great  age  in  with  the  coming  of 
our  day  of  strength. 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES  237 

TUTORING  THE  PHILIPPINES  ^ 

Charles  H.  Brent 

[Charles  H.  Brent  (1862-  )  was  born  in  Canada  and  educated 
at  Trinity  College,  Toronto.  From  1901  to  191 7  he  was  the  bishop 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  for  the  Phihppine  Islands  and  was  closely 
identified  with  the  progress  made  by  the  Filipinos  after  the  Amer- 
ican occupation.  In  191 1  he  was  president  of  the  International 
Opium  Conference  at  The  Hague.  During  the  World  War  he  was  a 
chaplain  in  the  United  States  army  and  was  in  charge  of  all  the 
chaplains  attached  to  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces  in  France. 
He  is  now  bishop  of  western  New  York.] 

In  the  course  of  a  recent  discussion  of  the  Philippine  prob- 
lem I  was  asked  by  one  of  our  most  eminent  educators  of  the 
senior  generation  whether  any  instance  in  history  could  be  cited 
where  one  nation  had  successfully  tutored  another  in  self- 
government.  My  answer  took  the  form  of  a  counter-question, 
Can  an  instance  be  adduced  where  the  full  experiment  has 
been  tried,  except  so  far  as  our  own  nation  has  done  so  during 
the  last  two  decades  ?    No  reply  was  made. 

By  tutoring  in  self-government  was  understood  the  effort 
of  a  country  to  develop  to  the  uttermost  the  latent  capacity  of 
a  backward  dependency,  with  a  view  to  bringing  it  to  nation- 
hood and  launching  it  with  all  the  responsibilities  and  pre- 
rogatives of  a  new  unit  of  government  in  the  world  of  men. 
I  believe  that  this  can  be  successfully  done  and  that  the 
result  of  our  labors  in  the  Philippines  testifies  to  the  fact. 

Great  Britain,  whatever  her  deficiencies,  has  been  the  most 
just  friend  of  weak  and  backward  people  that  history  has 
known.  The  part  she  has  played  in  their  development  and 
protection  has  been  replete  with  noble  elements,  especially 
during  the  last  half-century.  She  has  consistently  put  her  de- 
pendencies and  colonies  to  school,  carrying  them  from  the 
kindergarten  to  the  higher  grades,  but  she  has  always  stopped 
short  of  graduating  them  into  independent  statehood.    In  every 

1  From   Yale  Review,  July,  191 7.    Reprinted  by  permission. 


238  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

instance  her  frankly  declared  objective  has  been  not  their  inde- 
pendence but  their  continued  and,  in  a  sense,  increased  depend- 
ence. Her  whole  viewpoint  has  been  imperial :  her  first  concern 
has  been  the  well-being  of  the  empire,  and  her  second,  the 
individual  aspirations  and  desires  of  the  dependency.  Of  course 
her  statesmen  would  claim  that  what  was  good  for  the  empire 
was  good  for  the  dependencies,  and  that  it  was  more  profitable 
all  the  way  round  to  develop  a  strong  dependency  within  the 
empire  than  a  weak  nation  outside  of  it.  That,  however,  is  not 
to  the  point.  Even  if  it  be  true  that  the  British  Empire  came 
into  existence  through  a  fit  of  absent-mindedness,  it  represents, 
with  its  famous  pax  Britannica  and  its  network  of  colonies  all 
over  the  world,  one  of  the  noble  monuments  of  history,  quite 
capable  of  justifying  its  principles  and  its  main  methods.  But 
the  question  at  stake  is  not  whether  Great  Britain  is  a  struc- 
ture of  magnificent  proportions  and  beneficent  influence.  It  is 
whether  she  or  any  other  European  power  has  ever  set  as  the 
goal  of  a  dependency  ultimate  self-government  and  used  all  her 
wisdom  and  resources  to  compass  that  end.  I  am  aware  of 
no  such  instance. 

The  outstanding  example  of  the  British  government's  edu- 
cational and  philanthropic  ventures  among  alien  peoples  is  its 
administration,  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  of  Egyp- 
tian affairs.  It  was  doubtless  for  Egypt's  sake  that  the  country 
was  occupied,  but  it  was  still  more  for  the  benefit  of  the  empire. 
An  effete  and  bankrupt  nation,  under  Great  Britain's  firm  dis- 
cipline and  beneficent  schooling,  renewed  its  youth  and  credit 
in  a  remarkably  short  period.  But  the  moment  Egyptian 
nationalism  reared  its  head,  it  was,  to  use  mild  language,  dis- 
couraged. That  is  to  say,  the  educational  terminus  ad  quem 
came  short  of  the  ideal  of  independence,  and  the  child  was  kept 
in  the  schoolroom.  The  late  Lord  Cromer,  Egypt's  greatest 
friend  and  servant,  a  man  whom  history  cannot  fail  to  place 
high  on  the  roll  of  statesmen  and  administrators,  was  of  the 
opinion  that  there  was  lack  of  capacity  among  the  Egyptians 
to  come  up  to  the  requirements  of  a  modern  independent  state. 
In  1905  in  reply  to  my  categorical  question.  Will  Egypt  ever 
be  able  to  govern  herself?  he  gave  an  unqualified  negative. 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES  239 

Recently  Great  Britain  has  found  it  necessary  to  denude  Egypt 
of  even  the  semblance  of  independence. 


In  the  case  of  Cuba,  America's  occupation  was  too  brief  to 
be  immediately  effective.  Nevertheless,  however  short  it  was, 
it  represented  a  period  of  administrative  education  without 
which  Cuba  could  not  have  so  soon  become  a  tolerable  neighbor. 
Between  the  moment  when  the  American  flag  went  up  on  Morro 
Castle  and  the  Cuban  flag  took  its  place,  a  period  of  four  years, 
America  was  tutoring  Cuba  in  self-government.  Popular  edu- 
cation was  begun,  departments  of  government  planned,  and 
standards  of  political  integrity  set.  Cuba,  because  of  her  his- 
tory, her  proximity  to  the  American  continent,  her  comparative 
freedom  from  heterogeneous  elements  of  population,  her  ter- 
ritorial compactness,  was  at  once  put  into  an  advanced  class 
and  given  her  degree  of  independent  statehood  early.  A  short 
postgraduate  course  was  administered  later.  Now  the  new 
republic  seems  to  have  settled  down  to  sober  business  and 
bears  perpetual  witness  to  America's  purpose  to  promote  the 
interests  of  small  or  weak  nations  and  her  aptitude  as  a  teacher 
in  self-government.    Her  case  stands  alone  in  history. 

The  Philippines  presented  a  vastly  different  proposition. 
Situated  ten  thousand  miles  away ;  composed  of  the  broken  ter- 
ritory of  an  archipelago ;  with  a  diversified  population  widely 
scattered  excepting  in  an  occasional  congested  district  such  as 
Cebu ;  with  no  common  language,  save  among  a  small  per- 
centage where  there  is  a  babel  of  dialects  ;  devoid  of  a  native 
literature ;  disturbed  by  internal  troubles ;  with  a  stubborn 
fragment  of  the  people  wild  and  unorganized,  and  a  Moham- 
medan tertium  quid  traditionally  hostile  to  the  Christian  popu- 
lation,— with  all  this  to  face,  the  problem  presented  by  the 
pupil  to  the  teacher  was  baffling. 

Even  before  the  process  of  restoring  public  order  was  well 
under  way,  the  symbol  of  democracy — the  schoolhouse — made 
its  appearance.  In  1901,  the  year  in  which  civil  government 
was  established,  a  veritable  army  of  American  school-teachers 
was  drafted  into  the  Philippine  service.  The  training  of  Filipino 


240  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

teachers  was  begun  at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  In  19 13 
there  were  in  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction  some  9500 
teachers,  of  whom  658  were  American,  the  balance,  of  course, 
being  Filipino.  This  is  noteworthy,  for  it  indicates  that  the 
purpose  of  the  United  States  was  sincere.  There  can  be  no 
successful  experiment  in  democracy  where  free  education  for 
all  does  not  prevail.  And  the  converse  is  true :  where  there 
is  a  strong  public-school  system,  democracy  will  surely  take 
root.  The  progress  of  education  marks  the  progress  of  demo- 
cratic ideals  and  principles  —  that  is  to  say,  of  self-government. 
There  never  yet  was  a  republic  in  more  than  name  that  had 
not  an  instructed  commonalty,  either  in  Central  or  in  South 
America.  And  where  the  franchise  outruns  the  intelligence  of 
the  voters,  you  have  bureaucracy  among  officeholders,  manipu- 
lation of  voters  by  corrupt  and  self-seeking  politicians,  and  a 
debased  governmental  system  from  top  to  bottom.  You  can- 
not teach  men  how  to  vote  merely  by  extending  the  franchise, 
as  we  know  to  our  sorrow  in  our  own  country  without  looking 
further.  It  is  not  merely  that  efficient  public  schools  promote 
literacy,  valuable  as  the  function  is.  The  Philippine  public 
school  is  the  direct  application  of  democracy  to  the  life  of  the 
child.  "Definite  training  for  citizenship,"  says  the  Report  of 
the  Philippine  Commission  for  1914,  "is  given  in  the  primary, 
intermediate,  and  secondary  courses.  Various  literary  societies 
afford  pupils  practice  in  conducting  meetings  at  which  questions 
of  interest  to  all  citizens  are  discussed." 

Admitting  shortcomings   in   the  Philippine   Department   of ' 
Public  Instruction,  which  was  organized  in  1901,  it  represents 
the  high-water  mark  of  popular  education  in  an  oriental  de- 
pendency.   To  quote  again  from  the  commission's  report : 

The  intellectual  awakening  of  the  Philippines  which  followed  the 
American  occupation  and  the  establishment  of  a  modern  school 
system  is  one  of  the  most  gratifying  results  of  American  control  in 
the  Islands.  Everywhere  there  is  the  keenest  desire  for  education. 
...  It  is  because  of  this  intellectual  awakening  and  desire  for 
growth  and  development  that  the  American  teachers  have  an  op- 
portunity of  doing  so  important  a  work  in  introducing  Western 
methods  and  ideals,  and  in  keeping  the  schools  in  close  touch  with 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES         241 

Western  culture.  Through  the  introduction  of  English,  the  people 
of  the  Philippine  Islands  have  had  access  to  a  Hterature  undreamed 
of  by  them,  and,  not  only  in  the  schools,  but  in  the  pubhc  libraries, 
works  of  history,  travel,  biography,  and  science  are  greatly  sought,  not 
only  by  the  coming  generation  but  by  many  of  the  older  generation 
who  learned  English  because  they  found  that  their  horizon  was  im- 
measurably widened  through  the  reading  of  Enghsh  prose  and  verse. 

I  attach  supreme  importance  to  the  place  of  public  education 
and  the  preservation  of  its  standards  in  our  school  of  Philippine 
self-government.  Education  outranks  all  else,  although  its 
fruits  ripen  slowly.  It  is  the  mightiest  engine  of  democracy  ; 
and  where  it  is  weak,  citizenship  is  weak.  In  the  case  of 
Mexico  no  group  of  men  have  more  nearly  analyzed  her  need  or 
intimated  the  solution  of  her  problem  than  the  group  of  college 
professors  who  have  been  giving  careful  consideration  to  her 
educational  poverty  and  how  to  remedy  it. 

In  the  Philippines  the  great  mass  of  the  adult  population  is 
illiterate,  and  their  horizon  is  more  circumscribed  than  can  be 
easily  realized  by  those  personally  unfamiliar  with  the  country 
at  large.  Though  the  terms  for  qualifying  as  a  voter  were  from 
the  first  set  at  the  bottom  notch,  only  some  200,000  out  of  a 
population  of  approximately  9,000,000  have  up  to  this  time 
claimed  the  franchise.  Voters  are  now  those  comprised  within 
one  of  the  following  classes :  men  who  under  existing  law  are 
legal  voters  and  have  exercised  the  right  of  suffrage ;  men  who 
own  real  property  to  the  value  of  five  hundred  pesos,  or  who 
annually  pay  thirty  pesos  or  more  of  the  established  taxes ; 
men  who  are  able  to  read  and  write  Spanish,  English,  or  a 
native  language.  It  was  the  Jones  Bill  which  added  the  ability 
to  read  and  write  a  native  language  as  an  alternative.  The 
provision  is  theoretically  just.  Unfortunately,  however,  it  is 
premature,  as  it  will  not  only  increase  the  present  number  of 
poorly  informed  voters  but  also  tend  to  check  the  bilingual 
movement  which  is  going  to  be  so  valuable  an  asset  in  the 
unifying  of  the  Archipelago  and  in  the  international  relations 
of  the  Philippines  of  the  future.  It  would  be  the  part  of  wisdom, 
even  at  the  cost  of  hurting  the  feelings  of  the  adult  generation 
of  the  day,  to  restrict  the  electorate  until  the  present  school 


242  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

children  shall  have  reached  their  majority.  In  advocating  this 
I  am  only  applying  to  the  Philippines  a  principle  which  I 
should  like  to  see  operative  in  the  United  States,  where  the 
emphasis  is  rather  on  the  extension  of  democratic  privilege 
than  on  the  exactions  of  democratic  responsibility  and  the 
preservation  of  its  purity. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  Philippine  Department  of  Public 
Instruction,  I  would  place  the  cooperative  method  of  actual 
government  which  has  characterized  our  procedure  in  the 
Philippines.  With  a  consistency  that  has  been  more  rapid  than 
opportune,  we  have  "moved  from  a  government  of  Americans 
aided  by  Filipinos  to  a  government  of  Filipinos  aided  by 
Americans."  From  the  beginning  an  honest  effort  was  made  to 
fill  every  possible  office  with  Filipinos  as  they  manifested  abil- 
ity. A  minority  of  the  first  commission  were  Filipinos  ;  likewise 
the  chief  justice,  an  increasing  number  of  the  associate  justices, 
and  so  on  through  every  department  and  bureau  of  govern- 
ment to  the  personnel  of  the  most  obscure  municipality.  There 
can  be  no  possible  objection  to  this  course  provided  the  ap- 
pointees are  chosen  with  strict  regard  for  fitness  and  training, 
which  has  not  always  been  the  case.  Men  have  been  taught  to 
govern  by  being  given  a  share  in  government.  The  response 
through  a  decade  has  been  eminently  satisfactory,  and  a  care- 
fully organized  civil  service,  controlling  both  Americans  and 
Filipinos,  has  promoted  a  purity  of  motive  and  an  efficiency 
of  service  that  is  admirable.  Every  step  in  the  direction  of 
Filipinization — this  awkward  but  expressive  word  is  current 
coin — has  been  logical.  Government  by  commission  gave  place 
in  the  course  of  time  to  government  by  commission  and  pop- 
ular assembly.  A  majority  of  American  commissioners  gave 
place  to  a  majority  of  Filipino  commissioners,  and  in  provincial 
administration  similar  changes  were  made.  Now  within  a  few 
months,  government  by  commission  and  popular  assembly  has 
been  superseded  by  government  by  a  legislature  of  two  chambers 
— a  senate  and  a  house  of  representatives. 

The  future  of  the  Philippines  is  difficult  to  forecast.  It  will 
depend  in  large  part  upon  the  way  America  executes  the  balance 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES         243 

of  her  trust.  But  I  would  say  in  conclusion  that  this  seems  tol- 
erably clear :  the  young  or  small  or  weak  nation  of  tomorrow 
is  going  to  have  a  harder  time  and  a  grander  opportunity 
than  ever  before.  It  is  true  that  nations  like  India  and  Egypt 
did  govern  themselves  or,  to  speak  more  accurately,  had  inde- 
pendent statehood — the  two  expressions  are  not  synonymous — 
in  ancient  days.  But  that  was  at  a  period  when  the  ends  of 
the  earth  did  not  rub  shoulders.  Such  government  as  they  had 
would  not  be  tolerated  in  our  modern  world  any  more  than  an 
absolute  monarchy  would  be  tolerated  in  America.  If  inter- 
nationalism and  the  federation  of  the  world  are  anything  more 
than  empty  verbiage,  they  imply  that  every  nation  is  respon- 
sible for  the  purity  and  effectiveness  of  its  government  not  only 
to  itself  but  also  to  the  whole  family  of  nations,  just  as  truly 
as  the  states  of  the- Union  are  responsible  to  the  Federal  center 
which  symbolizes  and  cements  the  whole.  Even  we  have  not 
hesitated  to  call  to  account  Spain  and  Santo  Domingo  and  Haiti 
and,  forbearingly  and  ineffectively,  Mexico  for  financial  in- 
competence or  inability  to  preserve  order.  The  small  state  of 
the  future,  if  it  has  any  self-respect,  will  not  even  desire  to 
crawl  behind  the  pseudo-protection  of  the  discredited  principle 
of  neutralization.  Every  nation,  great  and  small,  will  desire 
and  be  compelled  to  stand  on  its  own  merits  and  character, 
manfully  shouldering  its  responsibility.  It  is  not  merely  that 
neutralization  fails  to  protect  from  attack  from  the  outside.  If 
a  nation  were  really  to  trust  in  its  guaranteed  inviolability,  as, 
happily,  Belgium  did  not,  as  Holland  and  Switzerland  do  not, 
neutrality  would  prevent  growth  from  within,  for  it  would 
emasculate  and  sterilize  its  victim.  A  nation  cannot  be  a 
nation  in  more  than  name  if  it  declines  to  accept  full  inter- 
national responsibility. 

Democracy  to  grow  healthily  must  grow  slowly ;  and,  as 
I  view  it,  it  will  be  to  the  mutual  advantage  of  both  America 
and  the  Philippines  to  walk  yet  awhile  in  close  organic  relation. 
America  has  had  no  more  sobering  or  enlightening  experience 
than  her  direct  responsibility  for  the  well-being  of  a  people  like 
the  Filipinos.  It  goes  without  saying  that  when  once  America's 
governmental  authority   in  the   Philippines  has   reached   the 


244     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

vanishing  point,  the  flag  that  has  guaranteed  and  presided 
over  an  unprecedented  period  of  peace,  prosperity,  and  progress 
will  go  down  forever,  leaving  the  Islands  to  their  own  self- 
protection  as  well  as  their  own  self-government.  But  I  still 
cling  to  the  hope  that  our  school,  so  ably  and  hopefully  estab- 
lished by  American  men  and  patriots,  will  not  close  its  doors 
until  the  Philippines  shall  have  honorably  graduated  into  a 
liberty  that  will  be  as  secure  as  it  will  be  to  the  liking  of  its 
citizens  and  to  the  credit  of  democracy. 


VIII 
UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS 

EUROPEAN  AND  AMERICAN  LIFE  COMPARED 

GUGLIELMO  FeRRERO^ 

[Guglielmo  Ferrero  (1872-  ),  the  distinguished  Italian  his- 
torian of  Rome,  is  of  northern  ItaHan  stock  and  studied  at  the  uni- 
versities of  Pisa  and  Bologna.  In  1907  he  visited  South  America 
and  in  1908  the  United  States.  His  "Greatness  and  Decline  of 
Rome"  is  his  chief  work  and,  like  his  other  historical  writings,  of 
which  one  is  "Ancient  Rome  and  Modern  America,"  abounds  in 
parallels  between  the  life  and  political  movements  of  ancient  Rome 
and  modern  civilization.] 

The  detractors  of  America — and  there  are  many  of  them 
in  Europe — affirm  without  hesitation  that  the  Americans  are 
barbarians  laden  with  gold,  that  they  think  only  of  making 
money,  and  that  in  consequence  of  their  riches  they  lower  the 
level  of  Europe's  ancient  civilization  and  infect  its  beautiful 
traditions  with  a  crass  materialism.  Admirers  of  America,  on 
the  contrary, —  and  of  these  there  are  as  many  in  Europe  as 
there  are  detractors, — will  tell  you  that  the  New  World  is 
giving  to  the  Old  a  unique  example  of  energy,  activity,  intelli- 
gence, and  daring.  Let  old  Europe  then  give  heed ;  beyond 
the  Atlantic  young  rivals  are  girding  themselves  with  new 
weapons  to  dispute  with  her  the  superiority  of  which  she  is 
proud.  What  must  one  think  of  these  conflicting  answers  to 
the  puzzle? 

Let  us  begin  with  the  reasoning  of  the  detractors:  "Amer- 
icans are  barbarians  laden  with  gold."    In  order  to  simplify 

iprom  "Ancient  Rome  and  Modern  America,"  by  Guglielmo  Ferrero. 
Copyright  by  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 

245 


246  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

the  discussion  let  us  limit  our  examination  to  the  United  States, 
which  is  justly  entitled  to  represent  contemporary  America 
with  all  its  qualities  and  all  its  defects.  No  long  sojourn  within 
the  borders  of  the  United  States  is  necessary  to  convince  a 
person  that  in  the  great  republic  people  do  not  think  only  of 
money.  A  writer  partial  to  paradox  might  well  amuse  himself 
with  proving  that  the  Americans  are  more  idealistic  than  the 
Europeans,  or  even  that  they  are  a  mystical  people.  Anyone 
who  cares  to  find  arguments  to  establish  this  thesis  may  well 
be  embarrassed  by  their  number.  For  instance,  would  a  people 
which  despised  the  higher  activities  of  the  mind  have  been  able 
to  create  the  philosophical  doctrine  which  is  popularly  known 
to  us  under  the  name  of  ''pragmatism"?  The  pragmatist 
affirms  that  all  ideas  capable  of  rendering  useful  service  are 
true.  He  takes  utility  as  his  standard  of  the  measure  of  truth. 
This  theory  has  seemed  to  many  WTiters  of  the  Old  World  a 
decisive  proof  of  the  practical  mind  of  the  American  people, 
who  never  forget  their  material  interests,  even  in  connection 
with  metaphysical  questions.  This,  however,  is  a  mistake. 
Pragmatism  does  not  propose  to  subordinate  the  ideal  to  prac- 
tical interest.  Its  purpose  is  to  reconcile  opposing  doctrines 
by  proving  that  all  ideas,  even  those  which  seem  mutually  ex- 
clusive, can  help  us  to  become  wiser,  stronger,  better.  What 
service  is  there  then  in  struggling  to  make  one  idea  triumph 
over  another  instead  of  allowing  men  to  draw  from  each  idea 
the  good  which  each  can  yield?  In  a  word,  pragmatism,  as 
America  has  conceived  it,  is  a  mighty  effort  to  give  the  right 
of  expression  in  modern  civilization  to  all  religious  and  philo- 
sophical doctrines  which  in  the  past  have  stained  the  world 
with  their  sanguinary  struggles. 

A  beautiful  doctrine  this,  which  may  lend  itself  to  many  ob- 
jections ;  but  true  or  false,  it  proves  that  the  people  who  have 
conceived  it,  far  from  despising  the  ideal,  have  such  respect 
for  all  ideas  and  all  beliefs  that  they  have  not  the  courage 
to  repel  a  single  one.  Such  a  people  wishes  to  learn  all  and 
understand  all. 

Another  proof  of  this  same  characteristic  is  furnished  by 
American  imiversities.   Europeans  have  all  heard  descriptions 


I 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  247 

of  these  great  American  universities — Harvard  and  Columbia, 
for  example.  They  are  true  cities  of  learning,  with  vast  and 
splendid  buildings,  gardens,  pavilions,  laboratories,  museums, 
libraries,  athletic  fields  for  physical  exercises,  pools  where 
students  can  go  to  swim.  They  are  enormously  rich  and,  at 
the  same  time,  always  in  dire  straits.  How  can  that  be? 
Because  no  specialty  or  item  of  perfection  is  allowed  to  be 
lacking.  All  the  languages  and  the  literatures  of  the  world 
which  have  reached  any  degree  of  importance,  all  the  histories, 
all  the  sciences, — judicial,  social,  moral,  physical,  natural, — 
all  the  divisions  of  mathematics,  and  all  the  philosophies  are 
taught  there  by  hundreds  of  professors.  Private  citizens  of  the 
rich  classes — bankers,  manufacturers,  merchants — have  in  a 
great  degree  met  from  their  private  purses  the  steadily  growing 
needs  of  the  universities. 

There  is  the  same  tendency  in  art.  That  American  cities  are 
ugly  I  willingly  admit.  It  would  need  much  courage,  no  doubt, 
to  brand  this  affirmation  as  false,  but  it  would  also  be  unjust 
to  deny  that  America  is  making  mighty  efforts  to  beautify  her 
cities.  All  the  schools  of  architecture  in  Europe,  especially  that 
of  Paris,  are  full  of  Americans  hard  at  work.  The  sums  which 
cities,  states,  banks,  insurance  companies,  universities,  and 
railroads  have  spent  in  beautifying  their  magnificent  edifices  is 
fabulous.  Not  all  these  buildings,  by  any  means,  are  master- 
pieces, but  there  are  many  which  are  very  beautiful.  America 
has  architects  of  indisputable  worth.  In  Europe  men  like  to 
repeat  that  Americans  buy  at  extravagant  prices  objects  of 
ancient  art,  or  things  that  pass  for  such,  not  distinguishing 
those  which  are  beautiful  and  ancient  from  those  which  are 
inferior  and  counterfeit.  But  those  who  have  seen  something  of 
the  houses  of  rich  Americans  know  that  although  there  are 
snobs  and  dupes  in  America,  as  everywhere  else,  there  are  also 
people  who  know  the  meaning  of  art,  who  know  how  to  buy 
beautiful  things,  and  who  search  the  world  over  for  them.  You 
will  find  in  the  streets  of  New  York  every  variety  of  architec- 
ture, just  as  you  find  in  its  libraries  all  the  literatures  of  the 
world,  and  in  its  theaters  all  the  music,  and  in  its  houses  all 
the  decorative  arts. 


248  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

"The  barbarian  laden  with  gold"  is,  then,  a  legendary  per- 
sonage, but  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  such  a  conception 
should  exist.  Modern  society  is  organized  in  such  fashion  that 
it  is  impossible  even  to  conceive  of  a  people  at  once  rich  and 
ignorant.  Industry,  business,  agriculture,  demand  nowadays 
very  special  technical  knowledge  and  a  very  complete  social 
organization ;  that  is  to  say,  they  imply  a  scientific,  political, 
and  judicial  civilization  of  reasonably  high  order.  Thus 
America  is  not  at  all  uninterested  in  the  higher  activities  of  the 
mind.  It  would  be  more  just  to  say  that  as  a  nation,  and  with- 
out regard  to  individual  instances,  she  interests  herself  in  such 
activities  less  than  in  industry,  in  business,  and  in  agriculture. 
But  is  not  this  also  the  case  with  Europe?  Who  would  dare 
affirm  that  the  progress  of  the  arts  and  sciences  and  letters  is 
at  this  moment  the  principal  concern  of  the  governments  and 
of  the  influential  classes  of  the  Old  World?  We  Europeans 
have  only  to  listen  to  what  people  round  about  us  are  saying. 
Their  talk  is  all  of  bringing  the  cultivation  of  the  land  to  eco- 
nomic perfection,  of  opening  coal  and  iron  mines,  of  harnessing 
waterfalls,  of  developing  industries,  of  increasing  exports.  Kings 
who  rule  "by  the  grace  of  God"  publicly  declare  thai  noihmg 
interests  them  so  much  as  the  business  of  their  countries !   .  .  . 

It  would  appear,  then,  that  the  riddle  of  America  is  very 
simple.  The  answer  contains  nothing  to  make  us  uneasy.  The 
riches  of  the  New  World  threaten  no  catastrophe  to  the  noblest 
traditions  of  our  civilization.  For  New  York's  wealth  is  only 
a  part  of  the  riches  produced  in  the  same  economic  develop- 
ment in  the  two  worlds.  The  ultimate  development  of  these 
mighty  riches  might  be  merely  a  general  advance,  both  ma- 
terial and  ideal,  of  Europe  and  America.  Rich  and  prosperous 
Americans  might  try  to  assimilate  the  culture  of  Europe,  and 
on  her  part  Europe,  in  her  effort  to  increase  her  own  riches, 
might  seek  to  equal  America.  But  a  historian  of  antiquity 
who  returns  from  America  cannot  share  this  optimism.  In  the 
lap  of  modern  civilization  there  are  twin  worlds  struggling  with 
each  other  for  leadership.  But  these  two  worlds  are  not,  as 
people  are  apt  to  think,  Europe  and  America.  Their  names  are 
Quality  and  Quantity.  ... 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  249 

America  is  neither  the  monstrous  country  where  men  think 
solely  of  making  money  nor  the  country  of  marvels  boasted  by 
her  admirers.  It  is  the  country  where  the  principles  of  Quan- 
ity,  which  have  become  so  powerful  during  the  last  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years,  have  achieved  their  most  extraordinary 
triumph.  An  active,  energetic,  vigorous  nation  has  found  itself 
master  of  an  enormous  territory,  portions  of  which  were  very 
fertile  and  other  portions  very  rich  in  mines  and  forests,  at  the 
very  moment  when  our  civilization  iinally  invented  the  ma- 
chine which  makes  possible  the  exploitation  of  vast  countries 
and  the  swift  creation  of  wealth — the  steam  engine. 

Less  cumbered  by  old  traditions  than  the  elder  nations,  and 
with  a  vast  continent  in  front  of  her,  America  has  marched 
along  the  new  roads  of  history  with  a  rapidity  and  an  energy 
for  which  there  is  no  precedent.  Ten,  fifteen,  thirty  times  in 
a  single  century  has  she  multiplied  her  population,  her  cities, 
and  all  the  M^ealth  coveted  by  man.  She  has  created  in  careless 
and  prodigal  profusion  a  society  which  has  subordinated  all 
former  ideas  of  perfection  to  a  new  ideal ;  ever  building  on  a 
grander  scale  and  ever  building  more  swiftly.  No,  it  is  not 
true  that  America  is  indifferent  to  the  higher  activities  of 
mind,  but  the  effort  which  she  spends  upon  the  arts  and 
sciences  is,  and  will  long  remain,  subordinate  to  the  great 
historic  task  of  the  United  States — the  intensive  cultivation  of 
a  huge  continent.  Intellectual  things  will  remain  subordinate, 
although  very  many  Americans  of  the  upper  classes  would 
wish  that  it  were  otherwise. 

In  just  the  same  way,  it  is  not  accurate  to  say  that,  in 
contrast  to  American  barbarism,  Europe  reaps  the  harvest  of 
civilization ;  just  as  it  would  be  unfair  to  say  that  the  Old 
World  is  done  for,  exhausted  by  its  petrifying,  inevitable 
routine.  The  ancient  societies  of  Europe  have  likewise  entered 
into  the  quantitative  phase  of  civilization.  The  new  demon 
has  also  got  hold  of  them.  In  Europe,  as  well  as  in  America, 
the  masses  of  people  long  for  a  more  comfortable  existence ; 
public  and  private  expenses  pile  up  with  bewildering  speed. 
Thus  in  the  Old  World  also  the  production  of  wealth  must  be 
increased,  but  this  enterprise  is  far  more  difficult  in  Europe 


2  50  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

than  in  America.  The  population  of  Europe  is  much  more 
dense  than  that  of  the  New  World ;  a  portion  of  its  lands  is 
exhausted ;  the  great  number  of  political  subdivisions  and  the 
multiplicity  of  tongues  increase  enormously  the  difficulties  of 
conducting  business  on  a  great  scale.  Traditions  handed  down 
from  the  time  when  men  toiled  to  produce  slowly  and  in  small 
quantities  things  shaped  toward  a  far-distant  ideal  of  perfection 
are  still  strong  among  its  people.  Europe,  then,  has  the  ad- 
vantage over  America  in  the  higher  activities  of  the  mind,  but 
she  cannot  help  being  more  timid,  more  sluggish,  and  more 
limited  in  her  economic  enterprises.  America  and  Europe  may 
each  be  judged  superior  or  inferior  to  the  other  according  as 
the  critic  takes  for  his  standard  the  criteria  of  Quality  or  of 
Quantity.  If  a  civilization  approximates  perfection  in  propor- 
tion to  the  rapidity  with  which  she  produced  riches,  America 
is  the  model  to  be  followed ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  perfection 
is  expressed  by  the  measure  of  the  higher  activities  of  the 
spirit,  Europe  leads  the  way. 


DIAGNOSIS  OF  TIHE  ENGLISHMAN ^ 
John  Galsworthy 

[John  Galsworthy  (1867-  )  lives  in  Devonshire,  England,  and 
is  one  of  the  best-known  contemporary  novelists  and  dramatists. 
His  chief  novels  are  "The  Man  of  Property"  (1906)  and  ''The 
Freelands"   (1Q15);  his  best-known  play,  "Justice"   (1910).] 

The  Public  Schools.  This  potent  element  in  the  formation 
of  the  modern  Englishman,  not  only  of  the  upper  but  of  all 
classes,  is  something  that  one  rather  despairs  of  making  under- 
Stood —  in  countries  that  have  no  similar  institution.  But 
imagine  one  hundred  thousand  youths  of  the  wealthiest, 
healthiest,  and  most  influential  classes  passed,  during  each 
generation,  at  the  most  impressionable  age  into  a  sort  of  ethical 
mold,  emerging  therefrom  stamped  to  the  core  with  the  impress 

iFrom  "A  Sheaf."  Copyrighted,  1916^  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 
Reprinted  by  permission. 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  251 

of  a  uniform  morality,  uniform  manners,  uniform  way  of  look- 
ing at  life;  remembering  always  that  these  youths  fill  seven 
eighths  of  the  important  positions  in  the  professional  adminis- 
tration of  their  country  and  the  conduct  of  its  commercial 
enterprise ;  remembering,  too,  that  through  perpetual  contact 
with  every  other  class  their  standard  of  morality  and  way  of 
looking  at  life  filters  down  into  the  very  toes  of  the  land.  This 
great  character-forming  machine  is  remarkable  for  an  unself- 
consciousness  which  gives  it  enormous  strength  and  elasticity. 
Not  inspired  by  the  state,  it  inspires  the  state.  The  character- 
istics of  the  philosophy  it  enjoins  are  mainly  negative  and,  for 
that,  the  stronger.  ''Never  show  your  feelings — to  do  so  is 
not  manly,  and  bores  your  fellows.  Don't  cry  out  when  you're 
hurt,  making  yourself  a  nuisance  to  other  people.  Tell  no  tales 
about  your  companions  and  no  lies  about  yourself.  Avoid  all 
'swank,'  'side,'  'swagger,'  braggadocio  of  speech  or  manner,  on 
pain  of  being  laughed  at."  (This  maxim  is  carried  to  such  a 
pitch  that  the  Englishman,  except  in  his  Press,  habitually  under- 
states everything.)  "Think  little  of  money,  and  speak  less  of  it. 
Play  games  hard,  and  keep  the  rules  of  them,  even  when  your 
blood  is  hot  and  you  are  tempted  to  disregard  them.  In  three 
words:  Play  the  Game"  (a  little  phrase  which  may  be  taken 
as  the  characteristic  understatement  of  the  modern  English- 
man's creed  of  honor  in  all  classes).  This  great,  unconscious 
machine  has  considerable  defects.  It  tends  to  the  formation  of 
"caste";  it  is  a  poor  teacher  of  sheer  learning;  and,  aesthet- 
ically, with  its  universal  suppression  of  all  interesting  and 
queer  individual  traits  of  personality,  it  is  almost  horrid.  But 
it  imparts  a  remarkable  incorruptibility  to  English  life  ;  it  con- 
serves vitality,  by  suppressing  all  extremes ;  and  it  implants 
everywhere  a  kind  of  unassuming  stoicism  and  respect  for  the 
rules  of  the  great  game — Life.  Through  its  unconscious  ex- 
ample and  through  its  cult  of  games  it  has  vastly  influenced 
even  the  classes  not  directly  under  its  control. 

The  Englishman  must  have  a  thing  brought  under  his  nose 
before  he  will  act ;  bring  it  there  and  he  will  go  on  acting  after 
everybody  else  has  stopped.  He  lives  very  much  in  the  moment 
because  he  is  essentially  a  man  of  facts  and  not  a  man  of 


2  52     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

imagination.  Want  of  imagination  makes  him,  philosophically 
speaking,  rather  ludicrous  ;  in  practical  affairs  it  handicaps  him 
at  the  start,  but  once  he  has  "got  going" — as  we  say — it  is  of 
incalculable  assistance  to  his  stamina.  The  Englishman,  partly 
through  this  lack  of  imagination  and  nervous  sensibility,  partly 
through  his  inbred  dislike  of  extremes  and  habit  of  minimizing 
the  expression  of  everything,  is  a  perfect  example  of  the  con- 
servation of  energy.  It  is  very  difficult  to  come  to  the  end  of 
him.  Add  to  this  unimaginative,  practical,  tenacious,  modera- 
tion an  inherent  spirit  of  competition — not  to  say  pugnacity — 
so  strong  that  it  will  often  show  through  the  coating  of  his 
"Live  and  let  live,"  half-surly,  half-good-humored  manner; 
add  a  peculiar,  ironic,  "don't  care"  sort  of  humor,  an  under- 
ground but  inveterate  humaneness,  and  an  ashamed  idealism — 
and  you  get  some  notion  of  the  pudding  of  English  character. 
Its  main  feature  is  a  kind  of  terrible  coolness,  a  rather  awful 
level-headedness.  The  Englishman  makes  constant  small  blun- 
ders but  few,  almost  no,  deep  mistakes.  He  is  a  slow  starter, 
but  there  is  no  stronger  finisher,  because  he  has  by  tempera- 
ment and  training  the  faculty  of  getting  through  any  job  that 
he  gives  his  mind  to  with  a  minimum  expenditure  of  vital 
energy  ;  nothing  is  wasted  in  expression,  style,  spread-eagleism  ; 
everything  is  instinctively  kept  as  near  to  the  practical  heart 
of  the  matter  as  possible.  He  is — to  the  eye  of  an  artist — 
distressingly  matter-of-fact,  a  tempting  mark  for  satire.  And 
yet  he  is  in  truth  an  idealist,  though  it  is  his  nature  to  snub, 
disguise,  and  mock  his  own  inherent  optimism.  To  admit  en- 
thusiasms is  "bad  form"  if  he  is  a  "gentleman,"  and  "swank," 
or  mere  waste  of  good  heat,  if  he  is  not  a  "gentleman."  Eng- 
land produces  more  than  its  proper  percentage  of  cranks  and 
poets ;  it  may  be  taken  that  this  is  Nature's  way  of  redressing 
the  balance  in  a  country  where  feelings  are  not  shown,  senti- 
ments not  expressed,  and  extremes  laughed  at.  Not  that  the 
Englishman  lacks  heart ;  he  is  not  cold,  as  is  generally  supposed 
— on  the  contrary,  he  is  warm-hearted  and  feels  very  strongly ; 
but  just  as  peasants  for  lack  of  words  to  express  their  feelings 
become  stolid,  so  it  is  with  the  Englishman,  from  sheer  lack  of 
the  habit  of  self-expression.    Nor  is  the  Englishman  deliberately 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  253 

hypocritical ;  but  his  tenacity,  combined  with  his  powprlessness 
to  express  his  feeHngs,  often  gives  him  the  appearance  of  a 
hypocrite.  He  is  inarticulate ;  has  not  the  clear  and  fluent 
cynicism  of  expansive  natures  wherewith  to  confess  exactly 
how  he  stands.  It  is  the  habit  of  men  of  all  nations  to  want 
to  have  things  both  ways ;  the  Englishman  is  unfortunately 
so  unable  to  express  himself  even  to  himself  that  he  has  never 
realized  this  truth,  much  less  confessed  it.  Hence  his  appearance 
of  hypocrisy. 


ARISTOCRACY  IN  ENGLISH  LIFE^ 
Gilbert  Murray 

[George  Gilbert  Aime  Murray  (1866-  ),  one  of  the  most 
famous  of  English  scholars  and  poets,  was  born  in  Australia,  but 
was  educated  at  the  Merchant  Taylors'  School  and  at  Oxford. 
Since  1908  he  has  been  Regius  Professor  of  Greek  at  Oxford.  He 
is  widely  known  for  his  unequaled  translations  from  the  Greek, 
especially  his  renderings  of  Euripides  into  English  verse  of  superb 
felicity  and  eloquence.  The  discussion  which  follows  is  part  of  an 
article  entitled  "The  Pale  Shade."] 

In  Great  Britain  the  king  and  the  House  of  Lords  are  both 
survivals.  They  are  relics  of  a  form  of  government  and  a 
structure  of  society  that  have  both  passed  out  of  existence.  In 
other  countries  they  would  have  been  swept  away  by  a  clean- 
cut  revolution  about  the  years  1 830-1 848,  but  the  English 
habit  in  reform  is  never  to  go  further  than  you  really  want. 
If  your  eye  offends  you,  try  shutting  it  for  a  bit,  or  use  a  little 
ointment  or  lotion,  or  give  up  reading  by  artificial  light.  But 
do  not  be  such  a  fool  as  to  have  it  taken  out  until  you  are 
perfectly  certain  you  must.  And  still  more,  if  your  neighbor 
offends  you  try  to  put  up  with  him,  try  to  get  round  him,  try 
to  diminish  his  powers  in  the  particular  point  where  he  is 
most  offensive  ;  but  do  not  hang  him  or  shoot  him  unless  he 

^  Copyrighted  by  the  North  American  Review,  from  an  article  entitled 
"The  Pale  Shade,"  September,  191 7.    Reprinted  by  permission. 


2  54     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

absolutely  insists  upon  it,  and  if  you  must  fight  him  do  not  for- 
get that  you  will  have  to  live  with  him  or  his  friends  afterwards. 
It  is  this  characteristic  which  has  won  for  England  two 
reputations  which  seem  at  first  sight  contradictory.  She  is 
known  as  the  most  liberal  of  European  nations  and  also  as  the 
most  conservative.  Both  statements  are  fairly  true,  and  they 
both  mean  almost  the  same  thing.  She  is  liberal  because  she 
believes  in  letting  people  do  as  they  like  and  think  as  they  like ; 
she  hates  oppression  and  espionage  and  interference  except  where 
they  are  absolutely  necessary  for  the  public  safety,  and  for  that 
very  same  reason  she  is  conservative.  She  adapts  herself  to 
new  conditions  with  as  little  disturbance  as  she  conveniently 
can,  and  never  destroys  institutions  or  worries  individuals  for 
the  sake  of  mere  logical  consistency.  The  people  who  praise 
her  for  being  liberal  would  seldom  claim  that  she  was  specially 
progressive.  Those  who  call  her  conservative  would  never 
think  of  her  as  reactionary.  The  fact  is  that  for  various  reasons 
she  has  enjoyed  greater  security,  both  inside  and  out,  than 
•most  European  nations,  and  being  free  from  fear  she  could 
afford,  as  a  general  rule,  to  be  patient  and  good-natured. 

"This  is  all  very  well,"  an  American  reader  may  say.  "It 
may  be  that  your  king  has  no  political  power  and  your  House 
of  Lords  is  having  its  claws  clipped  at  the  moment,  so  far  as 
the  poor  things  needed  clipping.  But  you  are  an  aristocratic 
nation.  We  know  it  in  our  bones.  We  feel  it  when  we  meet 
Englishmen.  The  first  thing  they  ask  about  a  man  is  whether 
he  is  or  is  not  a  'gentleman,' — it  is  the  all-important  question. 
And  the  answer  to  it  seems  to  depend  neither  on  the  man's 
moral  qualities,  which  we  would  respect,  nor  on  the  size  of  his 
income,  which  we  could  at  least  understand,  but  on  the  abstruse 
points  connected  with  his  pronunciation  and  his  relatives  and 
the  way  he  wears  his  necktie.  Your  aristocrats  are  supposed 
to  have  exquisite  manners,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  often 
offend  us.  They  are  too  much  accustomed  to  deference  from 
common  people ;  they  stand  aside  and  expect  to  be  waited  on. 
And  when  we  go  to  England  we  may  not  see  as  much  gross 
luxury  as  in  New  York  or  Newport,  but  we  do  see  that  life  is 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  255 

made  extraordinarily  comfortable  for  the  'upper  classes,'  and 
for  them  alone.  They  do  no  doubt  care  about  the  '  poor ' ; 
they  are  charitable  and  they  are  public-spirited,  but  they  de- 
spise, or  at  any  rate  they  exclude  from  their  society,  whole 
classes  of  people  who  seem  to  us  just  as  good  as  they  are — 
commercial  men,  wealthy  shopkeepers,  leaders  of  industry  and 
others — just  because  they  have  not  the  same  way  of  talking." 

Now  there  is  some  truth  in  this,  and  some  falsehood.  And 
it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  unravel  the  two,  even  in  the  rough- 
est and  most  elementary  way,  I  should  not  dare  to  attempt  it 
if  I  were  a  born  Englishman,  educated  at  Eton  or  Winchester. 
Because  in  that  case  I  believe  I  should  think  it  mere  nonsense. 
But  having  come  to  England  from  Australia,  and  been  at  one 
time  a  stranger  to  the  well-to-do  English  public-school  society 
which  sets  the  tone  in  the  British  upper  class,  I  think  I  can 
understand  the  criticism. 

It  is  a  fact  that  in  Great  Britain  the  aristocracy,  which 
America  on  the  whole  shook  off  when  it  shook  off  the  British 
connection,  still  survives  and  is  in  some  ways  still  powerful. 
And  I  think,  perhaps,  in  no  way  more  than  this :  that  its 
standard  of  behavior  and  minor  morals  is  more  or  less  accepted 
as  a  model  by  the  whole  nation.  It  is  true  that  Englishmen, 
more  than  other  nations,  do  consider  whether  a  man  is  a 
gentleman ;  and  the  average  Englishman  of  all  classes  normally 
considers  that  he  himself  is  a  gentleman  and  expects  to  be 
treated  as  one.  This  may  sound  like  mere  servility  or  class 
worship,  but  of  course  it  is  not  that.  It  does  not  mean  that 
the  average  man  tries  to  behave  exactly  as  he  has  seen  some 
earl  or  viscount  behave  or  as  he  reads  that  such  persons  did 
behave  in  the  eighteenth  century.  It  means  that  a  certain  ideal 
has  been  formed  of  the  way  in  which  a  "gentleman"  ought 
to  behave,  and  that  practically  every  self-respecting  British 
citizen  feels  himself — theoretically  at  least — bound  to  live 
up  to  it. 

It  is  in  part  a  class  imitation  and  in  part  a  genuine  moral 
standard ;  it  is  based  in  part  on  snobbishness  and  in  part  on 
idealism.  That  is  just  what  gives  it  its  power.  It  appeals  to 
every  kind  of  person.   No  doubt  it  would  be  far  better  to  aim 


256  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

at  being  a  philosopher  or  a  true  Christian,  but  thousands  of 
people  who  have  no  ambition  in  either  of  those  directions  will 
be  very  strong  on  conducting  themselves  like  gentlemen.  And 
some  will  do  it  in  a  superficial  way  and  some  in  a  sincere  and 
searching  way. 


THE  FRENCH  FLAME  OF  PATRIOTISM  ^ 

Maurice  Barres 

[Augusta  Maurice  Barres  (1862-  )  was  bom  in  Lorraine  and 
was  educated  at  the  Lycee  at  Nancy.  Since  1883,  when  he  went  to 
Paris  and  entered  literary  and  political  life,  he  has  devoted  himself 
to  efforts  to  arouse  the  French  people  to  patriotic  and  nationalistic 
feeling.  In  1906  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  French  Academy. 
The  present  article  is  only  part  of  an  address  delivered  in  London 
at  the  Hall  of  the  Royal  Society  under  the  auspices  of  the  British 
Academy  on  July  12,  IQ16.  Barres's  writings  on  the  "Spirit  of 
French  Youth,"  as  he  calls  his  address,  are  filled  with  soldiers' 
letters,  of  which  the  following  is  an  example.] 

December  25,  19 14 
It  is  midnight,  Mademoiselle  and  good  friend,  and  in  order 
to  write  to  you  I  have  just  removed  my  white  gloves.  (This 
is  not  a  bid  for  admiration.  The  act  has  nothing  of  the  heroic 
about  it ;  my  last  colored  pair  adorn  the  hands  of  a  poor 
foot-soldier, — piou-piou, — who  was  cold.) 

I  am  unable  to  find  words  to  express  the  pleasure  and  emotion 
caused  me  by  your  letter,  which  arrived  on  the  evening  follow- 
ing a  terrific  bombardment  of  the  poor  little  village  which  we 
are  holding.  The  letter  was  accepted  among  us  as  balm  for  all 
possible  racking  of  nerves  and  other  curses.  That  letter,  which 
was  read  in  the  evening  to  the  officers  of  my  battalion, — I  ask 
pardon  for  any  offense  to  your  modesty, — comforted  the  most 
cast  down  after  the  hard  day  and  gave  proof  to  all  that  the 
heart  of  the  young  girls  of  France  is  nothing  short  of 
magnificent  in  its  beneficence. 

iprom  "The  Undying  Spirit  of  France,"  translated  by  Margaret 
W.  B.  Corwin.  Copyrigiit  by  the  Yale  University  Press.  Reprinted  by 
permission. 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  257 

It  is,  as  I  have  said,  midnight.  To  the  honor  and  good 
fortune  which  have  come  to  me  of  commanding  my  company 
during  the  last  week  (our  captain  having  been  wounded),  I  owe 
the  pleasure  of  writing  you  at  this  hour  from  the  trenches, 
where,  by  prodigies  of  cunning,  I  have  succeeded  in  lighting 
a  candle  without  attracting  the  attention  of  the  gentlemen 
facing  us,  who  are,  by  the  way,  not  more  than  a  hundred 
meters  distant. 

My  men,  under  their  breath,  have  struck  up  the  traditional 
Christmas  hymn,  "He  is  born,  the  Child  Divine."  The  sky 
glitters  with  stars.  One  feels  like  making  merry  over  all  this, 
and,  behold,  one  is  on  the  brink  of  tears.  I  think  of  Christmases 
of  other  years  spent  with  my  family  ;  I  think  of  the  tremendous 
effort  still  to  be  made,  of  the  small  chance  I  have  for  coming 
out  of  this  alive ;  I  think,  in  short,  that  perhaps  this  minute 
I  am  living  my  last  Christmas. 

Regret,  do  you  say?  .  .  ,  No,  not  even  sadness.  Only  a 
tinge  of  gloom  at  not  being  among  all  those  I  love. 

All  the  sorrow  of  my  thoughts  is  given  to  those  best  of  friends 
fallen  on  the  field  of  honor,  whose  loyal  affection  had  made 
them  almost  my  brothers — Allard,  Fayolle,  so  many  dear 
friends  whom  I  shall  never  see  again !  When  on  the  evening 
of  July  31,  in  my  capacity  of  Pere  Systeme  of  the  Class  of 
19 14  (promotion),  I  had  pronounced  amidst  a  holy  hush  the 
famous  vow  to  make  ourselves  conspicuous  by  facing  death 
wearing  white  gloves,  our  good-hearted  Fayolle,  who  was,  I  may 
say,  the  most  of  an  enthusiast  of  all  the  friends  I  have  ever 
known,  said  to  me  with  a  grin:  "WTiat  a  stunning  impression 
we  shall  make  upon  the  Bochesl  They  will  be  so  astounded 
that  they  will  forget  to  fire."  But  alas,  poor  Fayolle  has  paid 
dearly  his  debt  to  his  country  for  the  title  of  Saint-Cyrien ! 
And  they  are  all  falling  around  me,  seeming  to  ask  when  the 
turn  of  their  Pcre  Systeme  is  to  come,  so  that  Montmirail  on 
entering  heaven  may  receive  God's  blessing  with  full  ranks. 

But  a  truce  to  useless  repinings !  Let  us  give  thought  only 
to  our  dear  France,  our  indispensable,  imperishable,  ever-living 
country !  And  by  this  beauteous  Christmas  night  let  us  put 
our  faith  more  firmly  than  ever  in  victory. 


258     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

I  must  ask  you,  Mademoiselle  and  good  friend,  to  excuse  this 
awful  scrawl.  Will  you  also  allow  me  to  hope  for  a  reply  in 
the  near  future,  and  will  you  permit  this  young  French  officer 
very  respectfully  lo  kiss  the  hand  of  a  great-souled  and 
generous-hearted  maiden   of   France? 

On  the  eighth  of  April,  1915,  came  his  turn  to  fall. 


FRENCH  LIBERTY^ 

Emile  Boutroux 

[Etienne,  Emile  Marie  Boutroux  (1845-1921)  was  professor  of 
philosophy  in  the  University  of  Paris  and  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  French  philosophers.  He  served  as  Exchange  Pro- 
fessor at  Harvard  University  and  was  in  1912  elected  to  the  French 
Academy,  He  published,  among  other  works,  "Education  and 
Ethics"  (19 13)  and  lives  of  Pascal  and  of  William  James.  This  is 
part  of  an  address  delivered  on  December  5,  1915,  before  the  Con- 
ference de  Foi  et  Vie  in  Paris.  In  its  presentation  of  the  double 
origin  of  the  French  ideal  of  government  and  attitude  toward  life 
and  the  perfect  combination  of  the  two  tendencies,  it  is  a  valu- 
able contribution  to  an  understanding  of  European  principles  of 
government.] 

The  French  idea  of  liberty  is  not  a  modern  invention.  It  is 
the  blossoming  of  a  double  tradition :  the  Graeco- Roman  and 
the  Christian. 

Opposed  to  the  Orient,  which  subjected  man  and  the  world 
to  an  absolute  empire  of  transcendent  powers  and  indeter- 
minable fatalities,  ancient  Greece  considered  the  world  to  be 
self-animated  and  as  tending  to  realize  its  own  destinies  within 
itself.  The  directing  ideal  of  Greek  thought  is  Art.  Now,  in 
a  work  of  art  such  as  the  Greeks  conceived  it,  matter  and 
form  are  so  exactly  adjusted  to  one  another  that  one  is  unable 
to  say  whether  form  is  the  result  of  the  spontaneous  develop- 
ment of  matter,  or  whether  matter  has  been  purely  and  simply 
disciplined  by  form.    In  the  eyes  of  the  Greek  artist  matter 

1  Translated  by  Morris  Edmund  Speare  from  "L'Idee  de  Liberte  en 
France  et  en  Alleraagne."    Paris,  191S. 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  259 

and  form  are  one.  It  is  neither  a  foreign  force  nor  an  oppres- 
sive one  which  develops  matter  under  the  laws  of  form.  Ac- 
cording to  the  voice  of  Amphion's  lyre  there  arise,  of  their  own 
accord,  pliable  materials  which  develop  into  walls  and  towers. 
The  great  blind  man  of  Maeonia^  opens  his  mouth, 

.  .  .  and  the  ancient  boughs  already 
Incline  their  foliage  softly  and  in  cadence ! 

If  nature  in  general  possesses  within  itself  the  power  of 
elevating  itself  toward  the  ideal,  by  a  much  stronger  reason  is 
human  nature  capable  of  manifesting  the  attributes  of  the 
true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good,  and  of  its  own  accord  pressing 
toward  them.  When  he  loves  and  seeks  for  knowledge,  man 
thus  constitutes  morality,  convention,  the  social  life,  and  the 
political  life.  From  thence  springs  the  Hellenic  ideal  of  edu- 
cation. To  uplift  men  is  not,  according  to  the  Platonists  and 
the  Aristotelians,  to  impose  upon  them  any  plan  which  one 
might  judge  useful,  without  taking  into  consideration  their 
natures  and  their  aspirations ;  it  is,  on  the  contrary,  to  con- 
summate their  most  intimate  wishes,  to  help  them  to  reach 
the  goal  which  they  themselves  aim  for.  Art,  says  Aristotle, 
makes  masterpieces  with  which  Nature  should  be  content.  It 
is  so  with  Education,  which  is  the  supreme  art. 

If  Greece,  above  all  other  things,  puts  forth  the  powers  of 
initiative  and  of  perfection  which  reside  in  the  nature  of  man, 
the  more  peculiarly  practical  genius  of  Rome  expressly  de- 
duced from  this  notion  of  man  the  moral  and  the  juridical 
consequences  which  it  embodied.  Capable  of  self-mastery  and 
of  reflecting  upon  his  own  acts  man  is  subjected  to  the  law  of 
Duty.  He  is  not  only  a  plant  which  blossoms  through  liberty. 
He  is  a  will  which  must  obey.  And  capable  of  assuming 
dignity  and  moral  worth,  he  possesses  as  an  essential  attribute 
that  eminent  quality  which  we  call  Right. 

As  the  Graeco-Latin  civilization  conceives  him,  man  is  thus 
a  being  capable  of  personally  fashioning  himself,  of  aspiring  to 
the  true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good,  subject  to  the  higher  laws 

1  Andre  Chenier,  L'Aveugle. 


2  6o  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

which  impose  upon  him  duties,  and  he  is  provided  with  essential 
rights  which  are  born  out  of  this  very  dignity  of  his. 

If  French  thought  comes  out  of  this  so-called  classical  tradi- 
tion, it  is  also  heir  to  the  Christian  tradition.  The  latter  does 
not  contradict  the  classical  ideal  at  all.  But  while  the  Greeks 
and  the  Romans  had  considered  above  all  things  Reason  in 
man,  reason  through  which  all  men  tend  to  mold  themselves 
into  a  single  being,  universal  and  impersonal,  Christianity 
exalted,  in  particular,  the  individual,  with  his  conscience  and 
with  his  own  traits  of  character.  It  gives  first  importance,  in 
God  and  in  man,  to  love,  sentiment, — that  is  to  say,  to  the 
peculiarly  individualistic  element  of  the  soul.  It  is  not  simply 
the  human  species  which,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ, 
is  privileged  to  approach  God  and  to  commune  with  him ;  it  is 
every  man  taken  separately,  however  humble  his  condition  and 
however  limited  his  vision.  "Behold,"  says  Jesus,  "this  poor 
widow  casting  thither,  into  the  alms-box,  her  two  mites.  Of 
a  truth  I  say  unto  you  that  she  hath  cast  in  more  than  they  all. 
For  they  have  cast  of  their  abundance ;  but  she  of  her  penury 
hath  cast  in  all  the  living  that  she  had."  Such  are  the  examples 
that  Jesus  gave  to  his  disciples ;  such  are  the  servants  of  God 
to  whom  he  promises  the  first  places  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
Every  individual,  according  to  this  doctrine,  is  called  upon  as 
such  to  save  himself  from  sin  and  from  death  and  to  live  in 
God.  And  the  salvation  of  all,  taken  every  single  one,  is  equally 
dear  to  the  Father,  who  is  all-powerful  and  all-good. 

Nourished  upon  this  twofold  tradition,  French  thought  has 
affirmed  an  ideal  of  liberty  which  is  vitally  identical  in  the 
conscience  of  the  people  and  in  the  writings  and  speeches  of 
scholars  and  statesmen. 

Liberty,  according  to  this  way  of  looking  at  things,  implies 
a  power  of  disposing  of  oneself,  of  desiring,  of  thinking,  of 
acting  for  oneself  which  belongs  to  the  individual  as  an  in- 
dividual. This  power  is  expressed  by  the  phrase  "  free  agent," 
which,  according  to  the  French  point  of  view,  designates  a 
faculty  at  the  same  time  very  genuine  and  very  superior. 
Each  man,  through  this  free  agent,  is  like  a  personal  empire 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  261 

within  a  universal  empire.  His  very  conscience,  in  fact,  is  not 
an  insignificant  secondary  phenomenon  but  an  original  and 
efficacious  reality.  Through  it  each  individual  is  somehow 
master  of  himself.  Not  that  the  individual  is  sufficient  unto 
himself  nor  has  the  right  to  regard  himself  as  superior  to  all 
laws.  French  thought  does  not  ratify  the  exaggerated  assertion 
of  Rousseau  attributing  to  the  individual  "  an  absolute  existence 
and  a  naturally  independent  one."  Man  finds  in  his  own  con- 
science with  irresistible  clearness  the  laws  of  justice  and  of 
humanity.  He  considers  himself,  therefore,  as  under  obligation 
to  his  kind  and  to  the  universal  order  of  things.  The  aim 
which  he  should  impose  upon  himself  is  in  this  sense  not  to 
differentiate  between  an  absolute  individual  sovereignty  and 
an  absolute  abdication  but  to  conciliate  within  himself  the 
liberty  and  the  right  of  the  individual  with  the  right  of  the 
ideal  and  the  sovereignty  of  moral  laws.  If  every  individual 
is  by  some  means  an  entire  being,  it  is  perforce  an  entire  being 
that  individuals  ought  to  consummate  by  their  union.  So  that 
the  problem  of  moral  life  for  French  conscience  is  the  very 
problem  which  a  Greek  poet  put  forth  in  these  words : 

XIo)?  8e  /xoi  €V  TL  TO.  TrdvT    iarai 

''How  can  we  so  bring  it  about  that  the  All  be  One,  and  at  the 
same  time  that  each  member  possess  an  individual  existence  ?  " 
The  conception  of  liberty  in  the  individual  is,  according  to 
the  French  doctrine,  determined  by  nations,  in  the  measure 
that  these  latter  can  be  held  responsible  as  you  would  hold 
people  responsible ;  that  is  to  say,  in  the  measure  with  which 
they  are  endowed  with  a  national  conscience  and  possess  the 
necessary  elements  for  self-government.  They  also  belong  to 
themselves,  and  must  be  masters  of  their  own  destinies ;  they 
also,  at  the  same  time,  must  recognize  the  existence  of  a  univer- 
sal justice  for  the  realization  of  which  they  are  in  duty  bound  to 
collaborate  with  all  the  others. 


2  62  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

THE  MODERN  ITALIAN  ^ 

William  Kay  Wallace 

[William  Kay  Wallace  (1858-1916)  was  an  American  who  spent 
many  years  in  Italy  and  knew  the  Italian  people  intimately.  During 
much  of  the  World  War  he  was  with  the  Italian  troops  at  the  Front. 
His  chief  book  is  a  survey  of  modern  Italy  entitled  "Greater  Italy" 
(1917)-] 

Of  all  the  modern  Europeans  the  Italians  have  hitherto  been 
the  least  understood.  To  many  of  us  Italy  is  still  the  land  of 
orange  blossoms  and  blue  skies,  of  museums  and  old  masters,  of 
hill  towns  and  tenors,  of  beggars  and  bandits — the  land  of  the 
jar  niente,  where  golden  days  are  passed  in  a  flood  of  eternal 
springtide,  where  work  is  left  until  tomorrow  and  nothing  is 
done  today.  Even  those  of  us  who  have  spent  some  time  in 
Italy  outside  of  its  art  galleries  and  museums  are  long  in 
realizing  the  true  temper  of  present-day  Italy. 

Why  then  this  misunderstanding? 

The  Italian  people  are  plain-spoken.  What  they  have  ac- 
complished during  the  past  half-century  speaks  straightfor- 
wardly, eloquently. 

What  a  galaxy  of  heroes  mark  the  milestones  of  the  struggles 
for  Italian  liberty  and  national  unity !  INIazzini  at  Rome, 
Manin  at  Venice,  blazed  the  trail.  Then  came  Garibaldi,  the 
warrior  champion  of  liberty,  whose  mighty  blows  forged  the 
last  links  in  the  chain  of  Italian  unity. 

Italian  unity  meant  Italian  liberty.  For  in  order  that  Italy 
might  become  a  united  nation  the  corrupt,  despotic  govern- 
ment of  the  Bourbon  kings  of  the  two  Sicilies  had  to  be  over- 
thrown. Rome  and  the  surrounding  territory  of  the  patrimony 
of  St.  Peter  had  to  be  wrested  from  the  grip  of  the  pope,  who 
clung  with  desperate  tenacity  to  his  temporal  sovereign  rights. 
Tuscany  was  a  duchy  ruled  by  an  Austrian  princeling,  as 
were  the  duchies  of  Parma  and  IModena,  while  Lombardy  and 

1  Copyrighted  by  Scribner's  Magazine,  December,  191 7.  Reprinted  by 
permission   of  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  263 

Venetia,  conquered  provinces  incorporated  in  the  Hapsburg 
empire,  groaned  under  the  yoke  of  the  despised  Austrian. 

No  more  thrilling  and,  at  the  same  time,  vital  episode  in  the 
history  of  the  nineteenth  century  can  be  found  than  that  of 
a  king  of  the  most  ancient  and  aristocratic  royal  house  in 
Europe  enlisting  in  his  service  that  stanch  republican  Gari- 
baldi, who  had  always  loudly  affirmed  that  he  never  had  been 
a  partisan  of  kings,  but  convinced  that  the  princes  of  Savoy 
had  the  liberation  of  Italy  at  heart,  gladly  gave  his  own  and 
his  followers'  service  to  the  king  of  Piedmont  in  order  that 
Italy  might  be  free.  Then  we  find  Victor  Emmanuel  placing 
himself  at  the  head  of  armed  revolutionaries,  overthrowing  the 
other  sovereign  princes  of  Italy,  including  the  pope,  and  creating 
the  united  Italian  state. 

The  unification  of  Italy  was  thus  brought  about  by  the 
active,  intimate,  and  constant  collaboration  of  the  most  radical 
revolutionary  as  well  as  the  most  aristocratic  and  conserva- 
tive elements  of  the  country.  This  must  be  constantly  borne 
in  mind  in  considering  the  fundamental  forces  of  present- 
day  Italy. 

Italian  unity — the  dominant  preoccupation  of  all  patriotic 
Italians  for  the  past  three  hundred  years — owes  its  actual 
accomplishment  to  the  strong  hand  and  daring  initiative  of  the 
royal  house  of  Savoy.  It  was  the  head  of  this  ruling  house, 
guided  by  the  wise  counsel  of  his  able  minister,  Count  Cavour, 
who  presented  the  question  of  Italian  unity  to  the  attention  of 
Europe,  thus  securing  the  active  assistance  of  Napoleon  III 
and  the  cooperation  of  the  French,  without  which  the  task  of 
driving  out  the  Austrians  would  have  been  impossible. 

This  is  the  debt  that  Italy  owes  its  present  ruling  dynasty. 
And  though  republican  sentiment  is  still  strong  throughout  the 
peninsula,  and  the  impelling  force  in  the  creation  of  united 
Italy,  "love  of  liberty,"  still  remains,  the  kings  of  the  house 
of  Savoy  have  reconciled  themselves  so  well  with  this  modern 
spirit  that  today  they  are  not  to  be  considered  constitutional 
monarchs  in  the  much-diluted  form  as  in  England,  but 
rather  what  may  be  justly  called  representatives  of  "royal 
republicanism." 


2  64     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

With  so  involved  a  political  origin,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
from  the  very  beginning  the  aims  and  motives  of  the  new  united 
Italian  state,  though  they  have  contributed  fundamentally  in 
shaping  the  course  of  the  history  of  our  epoch,  should  have 
been  disregarded,  neglected. 

Students  of  international  affairs,  whether  statesmen  or  pub- 
licists, keenly  critical  in  their  scrutiny  of  the  plans  and  policy 
of  England,  Germany,  France,  Austria,  Russia,  Japan,  and  even 
of  the  Balkan  States,  were  in  the  habit  of  passing  by  very 
casually  all  reference  to  Italian  participation  in  world  events. 
The  world  at  large  still  preferred  to  dwell  upon  the  Italy  of 
the  past ;  on  the  Rome  of  the  Empire ;  on  the  Italy  of  the 
Renaissance.  The  Italy  of  the  present  seemed  of  lesser  interest. 

This  is  in  a  measure  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  Italy  as 
a  nation  came  into  being  the  petted  godchild  of  Europe.  All 
the  older  nations  were  in  a  festive  mood  at  her  christening. 
Even  the  rictus  of  Austria  seemed  like  a  smile.  For  it  was  a 
new  experiment  in  nation-building  that  was  being  inaugurated : 
a  state  founded  on  racial  unity ! 

Cavour,  assisted  by  King  Victor  Emmanuel  of  Piedmont, 
held  the  infant  state  at  the  fount,  while  Napoleon  III,  looking 
not  unlike  Don  Quixote  and  feeling  much  as  the  gallant  knight 
must  have  felt  when  he  returned  from  tilting  with  the  windmills, 
was  at  hand  already  busily  planning  how  best  that  which  he 
had  given  might  be  taken  away.  Pompous  British  statesmen 
hovered  in  the  background  and  smilingly  gave  their  blessing  to 
the  new  Italy ;  while  in  the  sandy  marshes  of  Brandenburg, 
in  the  then  provincial  city  of  Berlin,  Bismarck  was  whispering 
to  his  Hohenzollern  master,  "The  Savoy  princes  have  begun; 
go  thou  and  do  thou  likewise." 

The  Italians  had  at  last,  after  countless  reverses,  won  na- 
tional independence.  The  long-cherished  theory  that  all  men 
of  the  same  language,  customs,  and  traditions  have  the  right 
to  form  a  separate  political  entity  was  realized.  Nor  must  we 
fail  to  record  that  they  were  the  first  to  demonstrate  that  this 
great  experiment  in  statecraft,  which  was  to  become  the  direct- 
ing force  in  nation-building  during  the  ensuing  decades,  was 
wholly  practical. 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  265 

Italy  was  the  first  great  state  to  assert  boldly  this  principle 
of  nationality  as  the  basis  of  the  modern  state.  Nationalism 
as  interpreted  by  the  Italians  was  soon  to  become  one  of 
the  most  important  single  factors  of  political  development 
of  our  times. 

As  France  a  century  before  had  lit  the  torch  of  individual 
liberty,  so  Italy  first  championed  successfully  the  belief  that 
national  liberty,  which  is  merely  the  extension  of  the  idea  of 
individual  liberty  to  include  all  individuals  of  a  kindred  race, 
is  the  most  valuable  asset  of  mankind. 

The  European  war  is  a  struggle  for  the  preservation  of  this 
principle.  The  Allies  are  maintaining  the  right  of  national 
independence  of  smaller  states  against  the  Germanic  idea  of  a 
state  composed  of  a  motley  of  races,  marshaled  under  the 
hegemony  of  the  strongest. 

During  the  ensuing  years  the  work  of  unification  continued, 
and  the  growth  of  Italy  as  a  united  nation  was  rapid.  So  that 
when  two  decades  later  Victor  Emmanuel  the  Liberator,  as  he 
came  to  be  called,  died  in  1878,  the  first  king  of  united  Italy, 
he  was  not  buried  in  the  Superga,  the  small  chapel  which  crowns 
the  soft  green  hill  above  Turin,  the  burial  place  of  his  house, 
but  in  the  Pantheon  at  Rome,  built  in  the  days  of  the  Caesars, 
an  imperial  resting  place. 

The  people  of  Italy,  no  longer  ruled  over  by  petty  despots 
chiefly  of  foreign  origin,  began  to  think  nationally,  to  feel 
themselves  a  part  of  a  greater  universe.  This  broadening  of 
point  of  view  brought  about  an  increase  in  moral  stature,  a 
strengthening  of  the  spiritual  fiber  of  the  nation. 

The  Italians  were  now  eager  to  enjoy  a  share  of  the  material 
well-being  which  other  peoples  possessed.  The  fecund  soil  of 
northern  Italy  was  no  longer  rich  enough  to  support  the  teem- 
ing millions  who  under  a  beneficent  and  enlightened  govern- 
ment were  at  last  permitted  to  have  a  share  of  this  wealth  and 
well-being.  Great  industrial  enterprises  sprang  up.  Piedmont, 
Lombardy,  and  Venetia  were  quickly  dotted  with  a  vast  network 
of  thriving  industrial  centers. 

Italy  prospered.  She  even  acquired  a  colonial  domain  in  the 
face  of  jeering  onlookers.    But  the  growth  of  her  prosperity 


2  66  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

did  not  keep  pace  with  her  increase  in  numbers,  more  particu- 
larly in  the  south  of  Italy,  where  the  debilitating  effects  of 
centuries  of  corrupt  government  still  showed  deep  traces  in 
the  backwardness  of  the  population. 

Soon  the  surplus  began  to  spread  over  the  New  World.  In 
South  America,  though  late  comers,  the  Italians  quickly  won 
their  way  to  positions  of  wealth  and  influence  in  the  republics 
of  the  River  Plate  and  Brazil.  Elsewhere  they  kept  to  humbler 
occupations,  and  built  with  their  own  hands  the  great  network 
of  railways,  bridges,  aqueducts,  which  spread  over  the  face  of 
the  earth.  Whether  at  home  or  abroad,  the  Italians  were 
building,  toiling,  moiling  ceaselessly.  Yet  throughout  these 
years  to  the  casual  observer  Italy  remained  the  land  of  the  jar 
niente,  the  land  of  romance. 

In  reality  few  races  are  possessed  with  such  dynamic  creative 
energy  as  are  the  Italians.  The  far  niente  is  but  a  thin  veneer, 
like  the  patina  on  an  antique  bronze ;  the  hard,  durable  metal 
lies  beneath  the  iridescent  surface. 

For  twenty  centuries  Italy  has  been  the  cultural  focus  of 
western  Europe.  No  other  race  of  men  can  show  so  long  a  line 
of  preeminent  genius.  The  civilization  of  the  West  owes  its 
present  direction  to  the  impulse  received  from  Italy. 

In  all  fields  of  human  endeavor  Italy  has  stood  forth  the 
master ;  the  Western  world  has  listened  obediently,  learned, 
and  then  followed  the  current  of  the  mighty  stream  of  civiliza- 
tion which  rose  beyond  the  Alps,  among  the  hills  of  Rome,  in 
Umbria,  Tuscany,  Lombardy,  and  Venetia,  to  spread  over 
Europe  and  the  world. 

Letters,  art,  and  science,  religion,  jurisprudence,  war,  all  owe 
to  Italy  the  tribute  of  their  most  luminous  flowering.  Caesar 
the  conqueror,  Cicero  the  orator,  Virgil  the  poet,  and  the  long 
line  of  Romans  who  were  the  first  Italians  belong  to  the  first 
epoch  of  Western  history. 

Then,  after  a  period  of  darkness,  out  of  the  night,  in  letters 
of  indelible  purity  and  beauty,  shine  the  names  of  Dante  and 
Petrarch,  the  precursors  of  a  new  era.  Painting  is  revived  and 
finds  a  Giotto,  whose  art  is  carried  to  a  climax  by  a  Leonardo 
and  a  Titian.    Galileo   revolutionizes   the   accepted   concepts 


UXDERSTAXDIXG  OTHER  NATIONS  267 

of  cosmography,  and  a  Christopher  Columbus  discovers  a 
new  world. 

This  same  race  of  men  brought  forth  a  Lucrezia  Borgia  and 
a  St.  Catherine  of  Siena  ;  a  Benvenuto  Cellini,  a  Machiavelli, 
and  a  St.  Francis  of  Assisi. 

There  followed  a  period  of  relative  decay,  until  from  the 
north  came  Winckelmann  and  Goethe,  Shelley  and  Browning. 
Italy  still  remained  the  teacher ;  the  past  became  sanctified, 
glorified  by  these  new  disciples. 

Then  came  the  invasions  of  Ruskin  and  his  phalanx,  who 
made  of  Italy  a  shrine.  The  new  votaries  from  all  parts  of  the 
world  sang  paeans  of  praise  of  the  Italy  of  the  past  and  gave  to 
the  Italy  of  the  present  no  thought. 

Like  a  race  of  servile  pygmies  modern  Italians  trod  among 
the  Titan  figures  of  the  past.  iSIen  refused  to  consider  Italy 
in  any  other  light  than  as  a  treasurehouse  of  ancient  glory ; 
the  holders  of  a  sacred  trust,  the  Italians  must  aspire  to  no 
other  role. 

The  dank  romanticism  of  the  early  nineteenth  century, 
though  swept  aside  by  a  ruthless  realism  in  other  countries, 
Still  lingered  in  association  with  the  name  of  Italy. 

National  independence  in  Italy  had  been  achieved ;  by  her 
new  strength  Italy  had  begun  to  assert  her  position  as  a  world 
power,  but  to  the  world  at  large  Italy  remained  a  museum. 

"We  have  made  Italy;  we  must  now  make  Italians,"  was 
the  spontaneous  outcry  after  the  great  ordeal  of  unification 
had  passed. 

Oppressed  by  the  grandeur  of  the  past,  by  their  long  and 
illustrious  heritage,  vexed  at  the  condescension  of  foreigners 
toward  their  aspiration  for  modern  development,  already  during 
the  first  days  of  national  existence  a  few  Italians  realized  that 
Italy,  in  order  to  develop  nationally,  must  trample  underfoot 
the  ever-present  past.  Italy  must  become  something  more  than 
a  haven  for  dilettante  art  critics  and  artists,  the  birthplace  of 
tenors,  the  refuge  of  idyllic  lovers.  The  Italians  were  sick  unto 
death  at  hearing  the  glories  of  the  Renaissance  discussed  and 
commented  upon  by  foreign  observers ;  sated  by  the  universal 
and  eternal  repetition  of  the  "Cinque  Cento,"  as  though  Italy 


268  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

had  ceased  to  exist  since  the  days  of  Michelangelo.  WTiile 
the  world  prattled  on  about  Italian  art  and  thought  of  modern 
Italy  in  the  same  old  romantic  strain,  the  Italians,  by  a  stern 
realism,  by  closing  their  eyes  to  the  past,  by  concerning  them- 
selves with  the  present,  and  by  looking  to  the  future,  rung  by 
rung  were  winning  their  way  up  to  recognition  as  a  world  power. 

Though  many  refused  to  consider  the  Italians  other  than  as 
an  old,  worn-out  race,  the  people  of  Italy  were  daily  more 
vigorously  and  lustily   asserting   their   rejuvenescence. 

More  than  this,  the  hardness  of  the  Italians,  in  the  Xietz- 
schean  sense  of  the  word,  made  it  possible  for  them  to  combat 
with  success,  in  moments  of  grave  crisis,  the  various  extraneous 
influences  which  sought  to  undermine  the  fabric  of  the  state. 
At  the  same  time  it  led  them  to  face  political  problems  with 
the  keenest  realist  perception. 

It  is  only  by  a  clear  understanding  of  this  phase  of  Italian 
ideology  that  we  can  arrive  at  an  explanation  of  Italy's  en- 
trance into  the  Triple  Alliance — the  making  friends  with  her 
despised  enemy,  Austria. 

To  appreciate  fully  the  real  import  of  this  act  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  this  alliance  was  as  unpopular  and  distaste- 
ful to  the  majority  of  the  Italian  people  as  an  alliance  with 
Germany  would  have  been  to  a  Frenchman.  So  that  at  a  time 
when  the  world  at  large  was  still  considering  Italy  in  the  old 
romantic  manner,  Italian  statesmen,  by  adopting  a  rigorous 
realism  in  their  conduct  of  international  affairs,  entered  upon 
an  alliance  with  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary,  believing  that 
this  policy  served  the  best  interests  of  the  state. 

With  peculiar  clearness  of  vision  the  people  of  Italy  perceived 
that  the  Prussian  system  of  efficiency  and  organization  in  all 
spheres  of  human  activity — commercial,  industrial,  military, 
technical,  and  scientific — would  lead  most  rapidly  to  the  eco- 
nomic and  social  development  of  the  state.  Success  had  become 
a  god  in  Italy  as  much  as  in  any  other  country.  Furthermore, 
it  must  be  remembered  that  Italy  as  a  nation  was  young  and 
fired  with  all  the  exuberant  enthusiasms  of  youth.  It  is  not 
surprising,  therefore,  to  find  that  the  Italians  were  cheerfully 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  269 

willing  to  work  under  no  matter  what  master  as  long  as  the 
work  was  lucrative  and  brought  with  it  material  well-being, 
the  outward  token  of  success. 

Politically  there  was  a  strong  motive  for  this  whole-hearted 
espousal  of  Germanism.  Italy  feared  her  elder  Latin  sister, 
France.  France,  regretting  the  assistance  given  to  the  people 
of  Italy  to  liberate  them  from  the  yoke  of  the  Austrian  in  1859, 
a  very  few  years  later  delayed  the  further  aggrandizement  of 
the  kingdom  by  preventing  the  incorporation  of  Rome  within 
the  new  Italy. 

When  after  the  battle  of  Sedan  and  the  overthrow  of  the 
Napoleonic  regime  the  Italians  occupied  Rome,  the  new  French 
republic  continued  the  policy  of  hostility  toward  Italy  and 
thwarted  the  first  imperial  longing  of  the  Italian  people  by 
inconsiderately  snatching  the  rich  colonial  plum — Tunis — 
out  of  Italian  hands  when  all  Italy  was  already  boisterously 
rejoicing  that  the  bejeweled  bauble  across  the  Mediterranean 
was  to  be  hers. 

Within  a  year  thereafter  Italy  had  become  a  partner  in  the 
Triple  Alliance,  and  a  new  orientation  in  world  politics  was 
inaugurated.  For  many  years  the  Italian  people  could  not 
forgive  the  affronts  they  believed  they  had  suffered  at  the  hands 
of  the  French,  and  henceforth  the  paths  of  France  and  Italy 
lay  far  apart,  while  the  Italians,  the  junior  partners  in  the 
Triple  Alliance,  drew  closer  and  closer  to  Germany. 

Three  decades  later  Italy  had  become  Germanized.  Talented 
pupils,  the  Italians  had  quickly  learned  all  that  their  German 
teachers  could  teach  them,  and  had  profited  greatly  thereby. 
Yet  in  their  youthful  eagerness  they  made  one  grave  error. 
In  swinging  wide  open  their  doors  to  Germany  the  Italians  had 
snapped  off  the  hinges  and  the  Germanic  hordes  from  the  north 
poured  in  unchecked.  Within  a  few  years  Italian  commercial, 
industrial,  and  even  political  life  was  honeycombed  with  German 
and  pro-German  agents. 

But  Rome  has  witnessed  so  many  barbarian  invasions  all 
traces  of  which  soon  vanished,  while  Rome  stands  eternally 
imperial ! 


2  70     VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

This  Germanic  invasion  was,  however,  the  more  insidious,  in 
that  prosperity  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  invaders  whom  the 
Italians  themselves  called  in.  Few  Italians  realized  that  their 
new  German  friends  and  allies  who  flocked  in  such  great  num- 
bers to  Italy  were  carrying  on  a  methodically  planned  and 
carefully  executed  program  of  ''peaceful  penetration"  as  part 
of  a  larger  plan  of  German  world  dominion. 

It  was  only  natural  that  the  Italians  should  imagine  that 
because  Italy  was  prosperous,  because  her  commerce  and  indus- 
try were  increasing  relatively  more  rapidly  than  those  of  any 
other  country,  this  prosperity  was  their  own.  So  busy  were 
they  piling  up  what  was  for  them  undreamed-of  riches  that, 
though  a  government  in  power,  in  protecting  Italian  interests, 
now  and  then  "flirted"  mildly  with  France,  England,  or  Russia, 
the  nation  remained  faithful  to  its  German  taskmaster.  All 
too  late  was  it  perceived  that  the  Germans  had  fixed  themselves 
lecherously  at  the  heart  of  Italy  and  intended  to  remain. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  European  war  in  August,  19 14,  Italy 
awoke  suddenly  to  the  perils  of  her  position.  The  mass  of  the 
people  at  large  were  still  ignorant  of  the  plight  of  their  country. 
Those  who  could  gauge  rightly  the  real  condition  of  affairs  were 
afraid  to  tear  out  with  one  mighty  wrench  the  German  parasite. 
By  a  series  of  operations  as  skillfully  conceived  as  they  were 
to  be  deftly  executed,  Italy  made  ready  to  rid  herself  of  the 
German. 

Italy  had  linked  her  fortunes  with  Germany  for  the  purpose  of 
growing  strong  and  self-reliant,  in  order  that  the  state  might  be  in 
a  position  to  stand  secure  as  an  independent  nation.  The  people 
of  Italy  now  began  to  realize  that  their  paramount  interests  de- 
manded that  they  detach  themselves  from  the  Central  Empires, 
and  by  a  close  study  of  events  adapt  policy  to  circumstance. 

During  the  nine  months  of  neutrality,  from  August,  1914,  to 
May,  1915,  by  a  slow  and  cautious  mode  of  procedure  Italy 
one  by  one  cut  the  ties  which  bound  her  to  her  former  allies. 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Triple  Alliance  had  endured 
for  a  generation,  in  those  few  months  the  vast  superstructure 
of  German  penetration  in  Italy  was  undermined  and,  at  a  given 
signal,  crashed  to  earth. 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  271 

It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  no  country  entered  the  war 
in  the  face  of  such  desperate  attempts  made,  within  its  own 
boundaries,  to  prevent  it.  It  was  then  that  a  leader  was  found 
in  the  person  of  the  great  poet  d'Annunzio,  who  returned  to 
Italy  at  this  juncture  and,  by  his  flaming  appeals  to  their 
nobler  sentiments  of  patriotism,  loyalty,  and  love  of  liberty, 
bade  his  countrymen  take  up  arms  on  the  side  of  the  Allies, 
in  defense  of  those  sovereign  rights  of  national  independence 
which  the  Italian  people  had  so  valiantly  championed  half  a 
century  before. 


THE  INTELLIGENTSIA  AND  THE  PEOPLE  IN  THE 
RUSSIAN  REVOLUTION^ 

By  Moissaye  J.  Olgin 

[Moissaye  J.  Olgin  (1874-  )  has  been  intimately  acquainted 
with  Russian  conditions  during  the  present  century  and  has  known 
many  of  the  leaders  of  the  revolutionary  movements  of  the  present 
and  the  past.  He  has  written  "The  Soul  of  the  Russian  Revolution" 
(1917)  and  "A  Guide  to  Russian  Literature"  (1920).  He  is  a 
native  of  Russia,  but  has  spent  his  recent  years  in  the  United  States.] 

A  tragedy  lurked  at  the  bottom  of  Russian  life,  a  discord 
fraught  with  dangers  for  the  future  of  the  nation.  All  through 
Russian  history  the  "plain  people"  never  understood  the  man 
of  education  and  culture,  and  he  hardly  ever  succeeded  in 
fathoming  the  "dark"  sea  of  the  masses.  Both  lived  side  by 
side  in  the  same  country ;  both  bore  the  suffocating  burden  of 
a  monstrously  overgrown  autocracy ;  yet  through  storm  and 
quiet,  through  lean  and  prosperous  years,  they  remained  dif- 
ferent camps,  almost  different  races :  the  bdrin  and  the  nardd, 
the  "gentleman"  and  the  "black  people." 

It  was  due  to  the  cunning  precautions  and  scrupulous 
watchfulness  of  a  "scientific"  bureaucracy  that  no  coalition  be- 
tween the  intelligentsia  and  the  people  was  possible  through 

iprom  the  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science,  Vol.  LXXXIV,  July,  1919.     Reprinted  by  permission. 


2  72  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

generations.  It  was  a  consistent  policy  in  Czar-ridden  Russia 
to  keep  the  peasants  and  workingmen  away  from  education  and 
to  keep  the  man  of  knowledge  away  from  the  masses  of  the 
people.  Neither  side  was  to  blame,  yet  here  they  were,  sepa- 
rated by  insurmountable  barriers  of  ideas,  conceptions,  modes 
of  living,  fundamental  experiences  of  existence. 

It  was  the  intelligentsia  who  made  supreme  efforts  to  ap- 
proach the  people  or  at  least  to  imbue  them  with  progressive 
ideas.  It  was  a  group  of  thinkers  and  dreamers,  army  officers 
and  civilians,  who  on  December  14,  1825,  started  an  open  army 
revolt  in  the  streets  of  St.  Petersburg  in  the  expectation  of 
finding  support  among  the  people.  It  was  a  host  of  intellectuals, 
young  men  and  women  of  the  well-to-do  class,  who  early  in  the 
70's  of  the  nineteenth  century  undertook  a  crusade  "into  the 
heart  of  the  people,"  ready  to  sacrifice  all  privileges  of  birth 
and  education,  to  live  with  the  plain  man  and  to  share  with 
him  their  ideas.  It  was  again  a  well-organized  circle  of  in- 
tellectuals who  late  in  the  70's  and  early  in  the  8o's  startled 
Russia  with  terroristic  attempts  on  high  Russian  dignitaries, 
including  the  Czar,  in  a  vain  hope  thus  to  remove  autocratic 
pressure  from  the  shoulders  of  the  people.  When  a  revival  of 
revolutionary  activities  began  in  the  90's  followed  by  the  first 
signs  of  a  broad  mass  movement,  we  find  the  intelligentsia 
everywhere — in  the  factories,  in  the  shops,  in  the  villages,  in 
schools — organizing,  educating,  enlightening,  paving  the  way 
for  a  conscious,  systematic  revolution  of  the  people. 

When  the  long-coveted  mass  movement  at  last  convulsed  the 
huge  body  of  Russia  in  the  abortive  revolution  of  1905-1906, 
it  became  evident  that  the  intelligentsia  had  no  power  to  control 
the  Russian  masses.  The  peasants  in  the  villages  burned  and 
looted  the  landlords'  estates,  contrary  to  all  advices  and  appeals 
of  the  thinking  radical  leaders.  The  workingmen  in  the  cities 
started  the  colossal  strikes  of  1905,  with  the  crowning  unprece- 
dented general  strike  of  October,  which  was  contrary  to  the 
expectations  and  beyond  the  regulating  influence  of  the  in- 
tellectuals, who  formed  the  various  socialist  factions.  The  sea 
of  the  people  was  too  vast  and  the  moments  of  contact  with 
the  intellectual  elements  far  too  few  and  brief  to  allow  for  a 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  273 

broad,  sympathetic  cooperation  between  the  narod  and  the 
radical  man  of  learning.  The  revolution  of  1905-1906  had  no 
leaders.  In  Petrograd,  a  soviet  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the 
revolution  was  created  by  the  imperative  need  for  leadership 
recognized  by  the  masses.  However,  it  was  of  brief  duration 
and  died  with  the  death  of  the  revolution. 

The  period  following  1 905-1 906  demonstrated  the  basic 
difference  in  the  attitude  of  the  intelligentsia  and  the  people 
toward  the  revolution.  The  masses  needed  revolutionary  changes 
to  remedy  elemental  economic  evils  ;  the  intelligentsia  expected 
the  revolution  to  create  political  freedom.  The  masses  could 
endure  no  longer  the  archaic  land  system  and  arbitrary  power 
of  autocracy ;  the  intelligentsia  could  live  and  prosper,  both 
materially  and  spiritually,  even  under  autocratic  pressure.  The 
intelligentsia  could  easily  adapt  itself  to  the  semiparliamentary 
system,  that  crude  European  varnish  on  the  surface  of  a  blunt, 
unwavering  tyranny  which  prevailed  in  Russia  with  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Imperial  Duma.  The  process  of  adaptation  on 
the  part  of  the  intelligentsia  to  the  seemingly  inevitable  order 
of  things  was  in  reality  very  rapid.  Even  before  the  last  shot 
of  the  "punitive  expeditions"  reechoed  in  the  Russian  villages, 
the  intelligentsia  was  already  disappointed  in  revolutionary 
ideas.  Even  at  a  time  when  dozens  of  fighters  for  freedom 
were  hanged  daily  before  dawn,  the  majority  of  the  former 
intellectual  revolutionists  were  turning  to  new  gods.  The  in- 
telligentsia had  failed  to  stand  by  the  revolution  to  the  very 
end.  It  had  failed  to  assume  leadership  in  the  great  mass  upn 
heaval.  Now  it  was  reappraising  all  social  and  spiritual  values. 
At  this  time  certain  characteristics  of  the  Russian  intelligentsia 
appeared  in  sharp  relief.  Highly  idealistic,  but  inclined  towards 
doctrinairism  ;  readily  inflamed,  yet  easily  disillusioned  ;  full  of 
self-sacrificing  aspirations,  yet  lacking  in  vigor  and  endurance ; 
hating  autocracy,  yet  ready  to  "settle  down"  for  practical 
work  under  an  autocratic  regime;  loving  "the  people"  with 
an  abstract  love,  yet  principally  interested  in  the  intelligentsia 
group ;  believing  in  the  people,  yet  convinced  beyond  any 
doubt  that  the  intelligentsia  was  destined  to  lead.  And  the 
greatest  of  these  is  the  last  because  one  of  the  reasons  for 


2  74  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

intellectual  hatred  of  autocracy  was  that  the  intelligentsia  was 
barred  from  leading  the  nation. 

Both  the  spiritual  and  the  material  aspect  of  the  intelli- 
gentsia underwent  a  marked  transformation  after  the  abortive 
revolution.  Spiritually,  the  intelligentsia,  tired  of  self-denial, 
of  self-sacrifice,  of  an  excessive  interest  in  political  formulas, 
turns  towards  mysticism  and  theosophy,  becomes  absorbed  in 
the  problems  of  sex,  gropes  for  an  assertion  of  man's  inner  self 
away  from  the  clatter  of  political  events.  ]\Iaterially,  the  in- 
telligentsia becomes  hungry  for  external  comfort  and  success  in 
life.  Gone  are  the  days  when  it  was  deemed  unworthy  of  a 
"decent  man"  to  lead  a  ''bourgeois"  existence.  Almost  legend- 
ary appear  the  times  when  men  refused  to  finish  their  univer- 
sity studies,  eager  to  work  in  a  dark  village  under  the  zemstvo 
auspices  for  a  miserable  salary,  or  in  a  revolutionary  organiza- 
tion with  the  prospect  of  imprisonm-ent  and  exile.  Men  became 
more  "practical"  after  the  strain  of  1905-1906. 

This  coincided  with  new  opportunities  offered  by  the  indus- 
trial development  in  the  twentieth  century.  Russia  was  rapidly 
introducing  modern  capitalism.  New  banks  needed  clerks,  ac- 
countants, branch  representatives ;  new  factories  needed  engi- 
neers and  other  specialists  ;  new  stock  companies  needed  hosts 
of  intellectual  workers.  A  large  part  of  the  intelligentsia,  for- 
merly leading  an  ephemeral  existence,  became  absorbed  in  com- 
mercial and  industrial  establishments,  became  a  live  factor  in 
the  new  economic  order.  This  in  itself  had  a  "sobering"  effect 
on  many.  The  idea  of  a  revolution  gave  way  to  the  hope  for 
peaceful  evolution. 

Quite  different  seems  to  have  been  the  spiritual  and  material 
aspects  down  below,  among  the  huge  strata  of  the  plain  people. 
There  was  little  comfort  for  the  poor  peasant  in  the  fact  that 
measures  tending  to  his  annihilation  bore  the  stamp  of  approval 
of  the  Imperial  Duma.  It  was  slight  relief  to  the  workingman 
to  know  that  ministers  guilty  of  shooting  down  hundreds  of 
strikers  received  a  vote  of  confidence  in  the  Tauric  Palace.  The 
agrarian  situation  became  even  more  ruinous  for  the  needy 
peasants  after  Stolypin's  agrarian  reforms  of  November  9, 
1906.    The  workingman  in  the  cities  were  practically  outlawed 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  275 

by  an  unscrupulous  bureaucracy  wreaking  vengeance  upon 
its  recent  enemies.  There  was  no  calm,  no  peace,  no  feeling 
of  security,  no  prospect  of  a  settled  existence  for  the  masses. 
At  the  same  time  people  were  hungrily  learning.  The  revolution 
had  shattered  the  stronghold  of  censorship.  Hundreds  of 
periodicals  were  circulated  in  town  and  village.  Books  found 
their  way  to  the  remotest  hamlets.  The  younger  generation 
was  going  to  schools,  which  were  opened  everywhere.  Many  a 
zemstvo  introduced  even  compulsory  education  for  all  children 
of  school  age.  Political  and  social  ideas  were  steadily  pouring 
into  the  minds  of  the  people,  putting  fire  to  the  fuel  of  dis- 
content. The  Imperial  Duma,  powerless  and  humble  as  it  was 
in  the  face  of  autocracy,  had  to  tolerate  a  left  wing  that  used 
the  high  tribunal  for  nation-wide  propaganda.  Thus,  while  the 
intelligentsia  was  accepting  the  situation  as  final  in  its  main 
outlines ;  while  few  believed  in  a  near  revolution,  and  fewer 
were  ready  to  become  instrumental  in  revolutionary  move- 
ments ;  while  the  revolutionary  organizations  were  steadily 
losing  their  intellectual  members  and  only  the  most  stubbornly 
optimistic  remained  faithful  to  the  old  banners,  the  masses  of 
the  people  were  accumulating  the  fury  of  hatred,  the  lava  of 
repressed  energy,  the  poison  of  corrosive  disgust,  which  only 
wait  for  an  opportunity  to  burst  forth.  The  general  political 
strikes  of  1913  and  19 14  in  the  capital  and  in  other  industrial 
centers  came  as  a  surprise  to  intellectual  Russia.  The  gulf 
between  the  man  of  culture  and  the  plain  people  was  deeper 
than  ever. 

The  war  did  not  bridge  the  gulf.  The  intelligentsia  saw  in 
the  world  conflict  a  struggle  for  democratic  principles ;  the 
masses  saw  in  it  a  sacrifice  in  blood  and  treasure  for  things 
they  did  not  understand.  The  intelligentsia  had  a  vision  of 
a  strong,  powerful  nation  emerging  from  a  victorious  peace ; 
the  masses  had  the  immediate  experience  of  millions  dead  and 
wounded,  of  millions  of  households  losing  their  best  working 
force.  The  intelligentsia  rallied  to  the  support  of  the  existing 
government  in  the  conduct  of  the  war,  convinced  that  to  win 
the  war  was  of  infinitely  more  importance  than  to  change  the 
form  of  government ;  the  masses,  even  those  plain  men  who 


276  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

were  able  to  think,  were  unable  to  understand  the  possibility 
of  cooperation  between  progressive  forces  and  the  government 
of  the  Czar.  The  government  in  its  turn  exerted  every  effort 
to  manifest  the  futility  of  such  cooperation.  Inefficiency, 
vicious  recklessness,  coupled  with  an  increase  of  oppression, 
marked  the  conduct  of  the  war  by  the  old  regime  administration. 

The  revolution  of  March,  191 7,  came  not  as  a  result  of  con- 
scious efforts  on  the  part  of  the  thinking  elements  but  as  a 
spontaneous  outburst  of  despair  on  the  part  of  the  masses. 
Before  INIarch,  1917,  the  intelligentsia  did  not  expect  and  did 
not  wish  a  revolution.  What  it  demanded  with  full  vigor  was 
a  cabinet  appointed  by  the  Czar  from  the  majority  of  the  Im- 
perial Duma.  When  the  masses  went  out  into  the  streets  of 
Petrograd  clamoring  for  bread  and  peace,  they  were  not  led 
by  intelligentsia  organizations.  When  army  units,  for  the  first 
time  in  Russian  history,  refused  to  suppress  the  riots  by  force 
of  arms,  it  came  as  a  result  of  war-weariness  and  general  dissat- 
isfaction among  the  masses  and  not  as  a  result  of  systematic 
propaganda.  When  councils  ( Soviets)  of  workingmen,  soldiers, 
and  peasants  were  formed  in  every  province  and  district  of 
Russia  to  represent  the  plain  man,  it  was  not  the  execution 
of  a  clearly  conceived  plan  but  an  outburst  of  spontaneous 
activity  on  the  part  of  the  narod.  From  the  very  first  days 
of  the  revolution  there  were  two  centers  of  power  in  Russia, 
two  bodies  speaking  with  authority — the  provisional  govern- 
ment supported  by  the  intelligentsia,  and  the  soviet  organiza- 
tion supported  by  the  masses. 

The  chasm  between  them  was  never  spanned.  The  thinking 
of  the  masses  was  elementary  and  concrete.  The  peasants 
wanted  the  land.  The  provisional  government,  determined  as 
it  was  to  confiscate  the  land  of  the  nobility  and  to  introduce 
a  radical  agrarian  reform,  became  entangled  in  theoretical 
controversies  and  practical  difficulties.  INIonths  passed  without 
marked  progress.  The  provisional  government  was  well  meaning, 
yet  it  could  not  win  the  confidence  of  the  masses,  who  were 
hungry  for  immediate  improvements.  The  workmen's  and  sol- 
diers' Soviets  insisted  upon  a  speedy  convocation  of  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly.    The  provisional  government,  hampered  by 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  277 

subtleties  of  electoral  systems,  was  losing  precious  time  and 
evoking  unwarranted  suspicions.  The  provisional  government 
deemed  all  internal  readjustments  and  improvements  secondary 
to  the  main  issue  of  the  time — the  continuation  of  military 
activities  at  the  Front.  The  Front  loomed  in  the  eyes  of  the 
intelligentsia  as  the  object  of  the  most  generous  national  sacri- 
fices and  as  a  duty  of  the  Russian  revolution  to  civilization. 
Here  it  entered  into  a  sharp  and  irremediable  conflict  with 
the  masses. 

The  intelligentsia  failed  to  see  that  war-weariness  was  the 
very  cause  of  the  revolution.  It  failed  to  realize  that  the  yearn- 
ing for  peace,  both  at  the  Front  and  in  the  rear,  was  over- 
whelming. It  failed  to  hear  the  cry  of  anguish  coming  from 
exhausted  millions  who  had  never  seen  the  glory  of  an  ideal  in 
the  war.  It  overlooked  the  cruel  fact  that,  with  the  industries 
of  the  country  rapidly  collapsing,  with  transportation  deterio- 
rating, with  the  entire  economic  fabric  weakening  day  after  day, 
there  was  hardly  any  possibility  of  maintaining  millions  at  the 
Front.  The  intelligentsia  remained  isolated  from  the  masses. 
It  had  no  way  of  meeting  the  implacable  realities  of  a  situation. 
It  had  assumed  leadership  without  that  closeness  to  the  cur- 
rents of  popular  sentiment  which  guarantees  success.  It  lacked 
the  ability  of  molding  public  opinion  and  wisely  directing  mass 
energy  into  carefully  drawn  channels.  It  had  not  put  before 
the  masses  a  great,  luminous  ideal,  potent  to  make  them  forget 
pain  and  cheerfully  endure  privation.  The  intelligentsia  re- 
mained what  it  had  been  for  generations :  idealistic,  impracti- 
cal, prone  to  take  its  own  experiences  as  the  measure  of  life, 
convinced  of  its  inborn  quality  to  be  the  leader  of  man. 

When  that  leadership  slipped  out  of  the  hands  of  the  intelli- 
gentsia, its  consternation  was  not  less  acute  than  had  been  its 
joy  over  the  March  revolution.  The  intelligentsia  saw  the  man 
of  the  bottom  rising,  and  was  appalled.  The  man  was  uncouth, 
blunt,  unwieldy.  He  had  no  manners,  and  in  his  rush  to  quench 
his  material  and  spiritual  hunger  he  broke  all  laws  of  politeness. 
He  lumbered  straight  ahead  without  respect  for  traditions,  for 
rank,  for  titles.  He  had  a  strong,  ironclad  idea  which  he  pro- 
ceeded immediately  to  put  into  operation.   Worse  than  that,  he 


278  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

mocked  at  the  intelligentsia  with  its  doubts  and  scruples.  The 
intelligentsia  saw  in  him  the  rising  Beast  of  the  Apocalypse. 
The  intelligentsia  had  loved  "the  people"  ;  it  had  loved  its  love 
for  the  people.  \A'hen  the  people  came,  with  crude  energy, 
with  passions,  with  cruelty  and  with  beauty,  the  intelligentsia 
became  frightened.  It  is  now  sending  out  clarion  calls  to  the 
rest  of  the  world  to  save  it  from  the  Black  People,  even  through 
bloodshed  and  famine  if  need  be.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
profound  tragedies  of  the  Russian  revolution. 

History  avenges  itself.  Russia  is  paying  for  the  sins  of 
autocracy.  The  revolution  was  deprived  of  the  knowledge  and 
technical  skill  accumulated  within  the  intelligentsia.  The  in- 
telligentsia was  deprived  of  an  opportunity  for  inspiring  con- 
structive work.  Can  the  historic  gulf  be  bridged  ?  And  if  so, 
how  soon?  On  the  answers  to  these  questions  depends  much 
in  the  future  of  free  Russia. 


THE  FAR-EASTERN  PROBLEM  ^ 
J.  O.  P.  Bland 

[J.  0.  P.  Bland  (1863-  )  is  an  English  journalist  and  author 
who  has  spent  most  of  his  life  in  the  Far  East.  He  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  Chinese  Customs  Service,  been  the  London  Times 
correspondent  at  Shanghai,  and  was  in  Peking  from  1907  to  1910. 
He  has  also  traveled  extensively  in  Japan  since  1887,  and  during  the 
Russo-Japanese  War  of  1904-1905  he  assisted  the  Japanese  secret 
service  in  China.  His  wife  is  an  American.  The  present  article, 
from  which  some  paragraphs  of  temporary  interest  have  been 
omitted,  furnishes  an  interpretation  of  Japanese  aims  in  the  Far 
East,  which,  while  not  entirely  unchallenged,  is  helpful  in  forming 
American  opinion  on  this  vexing  question.] 

Japanese  statecraft,  whether  displayed  in  Manchuria,  in 
Magdalena  Bay,  or  in  the  Marshall  Islands,  points  to  a  per- 
fectly consistent  and  legitimate  policy,  which  has  only  to  be 
rightly  appreciated  in  order  to  remove  all  immediate  prospect 

1  Reprinted  with  the  permission  of  the  Century  Magazine.  Copy- 
righted, January,  1916. 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  279 

of  serious  friction  between  Nippon  and  Anglo-Saxon  peoples. 
The  Japanese,  who  would  not  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  exclude 
from  their  country  Chinese  or  other  cheap  labor,  are  fully  alive 
to  the  economic  necessity  which  has  compelled  America, 
Canada,  and  Australia  to  frame  their  Asiatic  exclusion  acts. 
Beyond  all  question  they  recognize  the  legitimate  protective 
purpose  of  these  acts ;  what  they  object  to,  and  very  properly, 
is  the  implied  assumption  of  the  racial  and  moral  superiority 
of  the  white  races.  They  are  well  aware  that  the  objection  to 
Chinese  laborers  in  the  Pacific  States  and  to  Japanese  children 
in  the  Californian  schools  is  just  as  directly  due  to  economic 
causes  as  the  anti-Semitic  movement  in  Russia.  They  know 
that  the  Asiatic  is  excluded  not  because  he  would  contaminate 
but  simply  because  he  would  devour  the  white  man  in  open- 
labor  competition.  England,  which  professes  to  believe  in  free 
trade  and  unrestricted  immigration,  can  hardly  meet  the 
Japanese  on  this  question  in  the  spirit  of  "  frank  and  full  con- 
sultation" for  which  the  text  of  the  alliance  provides.  Frank- 
ness must  stultify  either  the  British  government  or  the  acts  of 
the  dominions  overseas.  Similarly,  with  its  IMonroe  Doctrine 
for  America  and  its  open  door  for  Asia,  with  its  professed  belief 
in  the  right  of  every  human  being  freely  to  change  his  na- 
tionality and  domicile,  the  United  States  is  not  in  a  position 
to  discuss  the  exclusion  acts  with  Japanese  statesmen  on  its 
accustomed  lofty  ground  of  political  morality.  The  Anglo- 
Saxon's  ultimate  argument,  conceal  it  as  we  may,  lies  in  the 
stern  law  of  self-preservation,  backed  by  force. 

Now  if  there  is  one  fact  which  stands  out  more  prominently 
than  any  other  in  the  history  of  the  last  ten  years, —  that  is, 
since  the  conclusion  of  the  Treaty  of  Portsmouth, —  it  is  that 
Japanese  statesmen  are  prepared  to  recognize  and  accept  these 
self-protective  activities  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  races,  provided 
only  that  Japan  also  is  allowed  to  follow  her  own  national 
instincts  of  self-preservation  on  the  lines  of  geographical  gravi- 
tation dictated  by  her  economic  necessities ;  that  is  to  say,  by 
expansion  into  China's  thinly  peopled  dependencies  of  Man- 
churia and  Mongolia.  Even  a  cursory  study  of  the  recent 
history  of  the  Far  East  points  clearly  to  this  conclusion.    Japan 


2  8o  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

is  not  prepared  to  accept  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  the  Asiatic 
exclusion  acts  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  acquiesce  in  the  tradi- 
tional policy  of  the  commercial  powers,  which  insists  on  main- 
tenance of  the  status  quo  in  China. 

It  is  true  that  by  the  terms  of  the  Portsmouth  Treaty  and 
other  conventions  Japan  pledged  herself  to  abstain  from  any 
encroachments  on  the  territorial  integrity  and  sovereignty  of 
China ;  but  her  diplomacy,  trained  in  the  best  European  tradi- 
tions, is  unsurpassed  in  the  gentle  art  of  treaty-making  and 
treaty-breaking.  It  has  learned  to  a  nicety  the  time  and  place 
for  "extra- textual  interpretations"  and  the  conclusive  value  of 
the  jait  accompli.  As  far  as  China  is  concerned,  the  protective 
clauses  of  the  Portsmouth  Treaty,  greeted  with  intense  satis- 
faction in  America,  w^ere  never  likely  to  be  effective  in  Man- 
churia even  had  Russia  and  Japan  remained  on  guard  against 
each  other  in  their  respective  spheres.  Those  who  hoped  and 
believed  that  China,  in  accordance  with  that  treaty,  would  be 
allowed  to  develop  the  resources  of  this  fertile  region  without 
interference  and  for  her  own  benefit  knew  little  of  the  imper- 
ativ-e  necessity  which  had  compelled  Japan  to  fight  Russia  for 
Port  Arthur.  The  same  necessity  led  her,  immediately  after 
the  conclusion  of  the  Portsmouth  Treaty,  to  come  to  terms  with 
Russia  for  a  division  of  the  spoil  under  conditions  which  vir- 
tually insured  the  benevolent  acquiescence  of  England  and 
France.  Upon  the  conclusion  of  this  pact  of  spoliation,  diplo- 
matically known  as  an  entente,  the  Portsmouth  Treaty  became 
a  dead  letter ;  it  had  never  been  more  than  a  time-and-face- 
saving  device. 

The  results  were  many  and  important.  Not  only  was  China 
not  permitted  to  develop  her  commerce  in  Manchuria  by  the 
extension  of  her  northern  railways,  not  only  did  Russia  and 
Japan  separately  and  jointly  veto  the  construction  by  English 
and  American  capitalists  of  the  Chinchou-Aigun  trunk  line ; 
but  they  went  much  further,  asserting  and  extending  their 
special  rights  and  interests  over  China's  loosely  held  depend- 
ency of  Mongolia,  forbidding  its  colonization  by  Chinese 
subjects,  and  establishing  their  usual  trading  and  mining 
monopolies.  By  the  end  of  19 lo  China's  sovereignty  throughout 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  281 

all  the  region  north  of  the  Great  Wall  was  evidently  doomed. 
Mr.  Secretary  Knox,  under  the  direction  of  American  financiers, 
made  spasmodic  but  futile  attempts  to  prevent  the  inevitable 
by  his  scheme  for  the  neutralization  of  Manchurian  railways, 
by  forlorn  excursions  into  dollar  diplomacy,  and  by  earnest 
appeals  to  the  open-door  pledges  of  all  concerned ;  their  only 
result  was  to  draw  Russia  and  Japan  more  closely  together  in 
the  bonds  of  a  most  profitable  pact.  In  19 10  Korea,  whose 
independence  had  been  solemnly  guaranteed  by  Japan  and  by 
all  the  powers,  was  "persuaded"  to  sign  away  the  remnants  of 
her  sovereignty  and  become  an  integral  part  of  the  Japanese 
Empire.  The  scraps  of  paper,  which  were  consigned  to  oblivion 
by  the  European  and  American  chancelleries  at  this  passing  of 
the  Hermit  Kingdom,  had  ceased  to  represent  either  actualities 
or  vital  interests.  This  being  so,  the  forces  of  geographical 
gravitation  met  with  no  resistance,  and  the  disappearance  of 
an  economically  unprofitable  nation  evoked  only  perfunctory 
valedictory  articles  in  the  press.  .  .  . 

Deeply  as  we  may  sympathize  with  the  Chinese,  we  should 
not  hastily  criticize  or  condemn  the  expansionist  policy  of 
Japan.  In  considering  the  causes  and  possible  results  of  that 
expansion,  certain  fundamental  truths  are  often  overlooked  by 
writers  who  approach  the  Far-Eastern  question  from  a  senti- 
mental point  of  view.  In  the  first  place,  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  Japanese  nation  differs  radically  from  the  typi- 
cally passive  oriental  races  of  India  and  China.  It  is,  in  the 
words  of  John  Stuart  Mill,  an  "active,  self-helping"  people, 
a  people  inspired  not  only  by  ideals  of  imperialism  but  possessed 
of  strong  martial  instincts.  When  in  India  or  China  the  pres- 
sure of  population  upon  food  supplies  becomes  acute,  the  patient 
toiling  millions  accept  death  with  fatalistic  resignation.  By 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  almost  uncomplaining,  they 
go  to  their  graves  as  to  beds,  accepting  plague,  pestilence,  and 
famine  as  part  of  the  inevitable  burden  of  humanity.  Only  in 
the  southern  maritime  provinces  the  more  virile  inhabitants  in 
China  have  endeavored  to  lessen  this  burden  by  emigration,  by 
seeking  work  and  wealth  overseas ;  but  individually  and  col- 
lectively the  race  is  lacking  in  the  "self-helping"  instinct  which 


282  \^TAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

solves  such  problems  of  expansion  by  warfare  and  the  survival 
of  the  fittest. 

In  the  second  place,  it  must  be  remembered  that  Japan's 
vital  need  of  wider  frontiers,  new  sources  of  food  supply,  and 
new  markets  for  her  industries  has  been  in  very  great  measure 
forced  upon  her  by  the  policies  and  example  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  peoples.  In  self-defense  they  have  learned  from  us  the 
organization  of  machine  labor  in  cities ;  following  our  example 
they  have  passed  swiftly  from  the  condition  of  an  agricultural 
to  that  of  an  industrial  nation.  With  these  economic  changes 
came  the  modern  science  of  sanitation,  the  immediate  result 
being  an  increase  of  population  far  greater  than  that  which  had 
taken  place  when  the  country  lived  by  and  for  agriculture.  In 
1875,  before  industrialism  had  set  in,  the  population  of  Japan's 
150,000  square  miles  was  thirty-four  millions ;  last  year  it  was 
fifty-four  millions,  and  the  average  annual  excess  of  births  over 
deaths  is  roughly  seven  hundred  thousand.  The  Elder  States- 
men of  Japan  anticipated  long  ago,  as  all  their  unswerving 
policy  has  proved,  the  consequences  to  their  country  of  the 
ever-increasing  fierceness  of  industrial  competition.  They  real- 
ized that,  as  the  number  of  countries  that  depend  for  their  very 
existence  upon  the  exchange  of  manufactured  goods  for  food- 
stuffs and  raw  materials  increases,  and  as  the  countries  with 
surplus  food  supplies  become  fewer  and  fewer,  Japan  must  face 
the  alternative  either  of  emigration  on  a  large  scale  or  of  finding 
in  territorial  expansion  new  sources  of  supply  and  an  outlet  for 
her  surplus  population.  The  Anglo-Saxon  peoples,  by  their 
Asiatic  exclusion  acts,  have  shut  the  door  on  emigration  to 
those  parts  of  the  world  where  Japanese  labor  might  have 
reaped  a  rich  harvest.  Small  wonder,  then,  that  the  eyes  of 
Japan's  wise  rulers  became  fixed  upon  Korea  and  the  fertile, 
unpeopled  regions  of  jManchuria  and  Mongolia,  that  the  pos- 
session of  these  lands  became  the  be-all  and  end-all  of  Japanese 
policy,  the  goal  toward  which  all  the  hopes  and  energies  of  the 
nation  have  been  unswervingly  directed.  "Eastern  Asia,"  said 
Count  Komura  in  the  Diet  three  years  ago,  ''is  the  only  safe 
field   for  Japanese  emigration."    Like   Prince  Ito   and   other 


UNDERSTANDING  OTHER  NATIONS  283 

makers  of  modern  Japan,  Count  Okuma  has  never  had  any 
illusions  on  this  subject.  If  at  times  the  Japanese  have  seemed 
to  be  desirous  of  testing  the  resistant  strength  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  in  California  and  in  IMexico ;  if  they  have  displayed 
activity  in  Vancouver  and  Honolulu  and  cast  their  eyes  toward 
island  outposts  in  the  southern  seas,  these  have  been  political 
side  issues,  deliberately  planned  and  pursued  in  order  to  create 
opportunities  for  application  of  the  principle  of  do  ut  des. 

Long  before  the  Russian  invasion  had  been  swept  back  from 
the  shores  of  the  Yellow  Sea,  w^hile  still  the  Japanese  people 
were  working  patiently  and  with  undivided  patriotism  to  master 
the  mechanical  and  military  sciences  of  the  Western  world, 
the  whole  nation  knew  that  its  destinies  depended  upon  the 
struggle  for  Korea  and  the  Manchurian  hinterland.  Eastern 
Asia  could  not  become  a  safe  field  for  Japanese  immigration  so 
long  as  Russia  remained  undefeated  and  in  possession  of  Port 
Arthur,  but  it  was  always  the  only  possible  field  in  sight. 
Every  page  of  Japanese  history  since  the  Treaty  of  Shimonoseki 
reveals  the  conscious  purpose  of  the  nation's  rulers  to  make 
that  field  both  safe  and  fruitful  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 
Their  policy  of  expansion,  unlike  that  of  Russia,  has  been  from 
first  to  last  dictated  by  recognition  of  the  supreme  law  of  self- 
preservation.  We  may  deplore  the  fact  that  Japanese  emigra- 
tion to  eastern  Asia  can  be  carried  out  only  by  inflicting  grave 
injustice  and  suffering  upon  millions  of  defenseless  Chinese. 
We  may  assume  that  debarred  from  colonizing  Mongolia, 
gradually  reduced  in  Manchuria  to  the  position  of  a  subject 
race,  prevented  from  developing  the  resources  of  their  country 
for  their  own  profit  by  the  vested  rights  and  monopolies  of  the 
predominant  power,  the  Chinese  must  find  the  struggle  for  life 
greatly  intensified.  Nevertheless  the  Anglo-Saxon,  whose  whole 
history  has  been  one  of  expansion  in  anticipation  of  the  actual 
and  future  needs  of  the  race,  can  assume  no  moral  grounds  for 
criticizing  or  condemning  the  policy  of  the  Japanese.  The  law 
of  self-preservation,  as  applied  between  nations,  recognizes  no 
scope  for  altruism  ;  red  men,  and  yellow  and  brown,  being  unfit 
to  survive  in  the  struggle  for  places  in  the  sun,  have  been 


284  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

eliminated  by  the  European.  To  oppose  Japan's  actions  and 
intentions  on  grounds  of  self-interest,  as  by  treaties  and  con- 
ventions has  been  done  in  the  past,  may  be  justifiable,  but  to 
oppose  them  on  high  moral  grounds  is  hypocritical  and  futile. 
British  interests  in  this  Far-Eastern  question  are  partly  com- 
mercial, partly  political ;  Japan's  are  national  and  vital. 


APPENDIX 


QUESTIONS  FOR  CLASS  USE 

[Questions  followed  by  dates  are  actual  questions  of  the  College  Entrance 
Examination  Board  for  the  year  mentioned.] 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS  FOR  USE  WITH  EACH  SELECTION 

What  is  the  central  thought  of  the  selection  ?  Give  a  short  outline 
of  the  main  ideas.  Summarize  the  selection  in  a  paragraph.  What 
Daragraphs  begin  with  topic  sentences  ?  What  types  of  sentences  are 
used  ?  Compare  the  diction  of  the  selection  with  that  of  other  selec- 
tions better  and  worse.  What  other  selections  discuss  related  ideas  ? 
To  what  extent  is  the  effectiveness  of  the  selection  due  to  w-ell- 
chosen  illustrations  ?   How  are  the  ideas  made  concrete  ? 


SUGGESTIVE   QUESTIONS   FOR   DISCUSSION   WITH  THE 
SELECTIONS 

L  The  Meaning  of  America 

Eliot,  page  i:  Write  for  a  foreign-language  newspaper  an  article 
entitled  "What  makes  a  Good  American"  (1920). 

Root,  page  5.-  What  amendments  to  the  Constitution  have  been 
added  in  recent  years  ?  Prove  by  the  history  of  one  of  these  that 
Americans  move  slowly  to  change  legislation.  Show  from  some  laws 
recently  passed  by  your  city  or  state  that  we  adapt  or  change  laws 
to  meet  the  changing  times. 

Hughes,  page  7:  Name  some  living  Americans  who  exemplify  the 
writer's  ideal.  Compare  the  essay  with  G.  W.  Curtis's  "The 
Leadership  of  Educated  Men."  The  duties  and  privileges  of  citizen- 
ship in  the  United  States  (1Q20). 

Roosevelt,  page  14:  What  did  Roosevelt  do  while  president  to 
free  the  government  from  control  by  moneyed  interests  ?  Does  his 
idea  of  securing  "equality  of  opportunity"  agree  with  anything  in 
the  first  essay  by  Eliot  ?  What  regulations  concerning  hours  of  labor 
are  now  in  force  in  your  city  or  state  ? 

Wood,  page  26:  Did  Roosevelt  have  the  "right  attitude  for  the 
American  citizen"?   Explain.   Memorize  his  last  public  message. 


ii  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

II.  National  Resources  and  Activities 

Turner,  page  34:  Name  the  various  Old  World  peoples  who  now 
inhabit  large  areas  in  the  United  States. 

Royce,  page  45:  Characterize  the  principal  physical  features  of 
your  state.  Show  how  these  have  influenced  the  character  of  the 
citizens.   Discuss:  The  best  section  of  the  United  States  (1917). 

La7ie,  page  48:  Explain  the  changes  in  modern  life  that  have  been 
brought  about  by  some  important  invention  (1920).  Choose  a 
fitting  occasion  and  audience  and  write  a  speech  on  "Why  I  am 
proud  to  be  an  American"  (1919). 

Clark,  page  54:  Describe  the  governmental  agencies  that  deal  with 
conservation,  naming  the  officials  in  charge. 

Roosevelt,  page  62:  In  what  products  of  the  soil  do  we  lead  the 
countries  of  the  world,  and  to  what  nations  do  we  export  them  ? 

Houston,  page  65:  W'hat  advantages  would  come  to  the  country 
if  some  of  the  population  of  congested  cities  were  willing  to  become 
farmers  ?    What  advantages  in  character  come  to  a  farm  owner  ? 

Roberts,  page  6g:  W^hat  is  the  present  situation  about  canceling 
our  loans  to  the  European  Allies  ?  Discuss  the  present  tariff  in  its 
relation  to  our  commercial  relations  with  European  countries. 

Paine,  page  76:  What  is  the  Shipping  Board,  and  is  it  still  in 
existence  ?   Where  do  American  ships  go  today  ? 

Dunn,  page  84:  Write  out  a  brief  for  an  argument  on  government 
ownership  of  railroads,  using  material  in  the  selections.  How  are 
the  railroads  managed  today?    How  far  government-controlled? 

III.  Some  Problems  of  Readjustment 

Hoover,  page  gj:  The  place  of  the  general  public  in  labor  dis- 
putes (1920). 

Fisher,  page  Q5:  Give  some  examples  from  your  own  reading  or 
experience  of  industries  that  have  been  '"humanized."  Which  in- 
stincts appear  most  neglected  in  industry  today  ?  Are  there  any 
well-known  exceptions  to  this  neglect  ? 

Parker,  page  103:  Give  some  examples  from  your  own  community 
of  industries  that  show  mechanization  or  specialization. 

Compers,  page  no:  What  strikes  have  recently  occurred,  what 
did  the  workmen  demand,  and  how  were  the  strikes  finally  settled  ? 

Rockefeller,  page  114:  Apply  the  idea  of  personal  contact  to  the 
ideas  of  the  other  writers  on  capital  and  labor  in  this  section. 

Kahn,  page  119:  W^ould  all  agree  with  the  writer  about  the  reward 
due  to  men  exercising  the  "directive  faculty"? 

Bourne,  page  131:   What  is  our  real  American  culture? 

Weyl,  page  134:  Explain  the  present  rules  regarding  limitation  of 
immigration.    Suggest  ways  to  Americanize  immigrants  who  are  not 


APPENDIX  iii 

yet  citizens.    Explain  the  work  of  Americanization  in  your   com- 
munity.  The  problem  of  the  immigrant  in  my  town  (1920). 

IV.  Education.'vl  Aims  and  Valves 

Eliot,  page  150:  Describe  the  various  forms  of  cooperative  effort 
in  your  community.  Discuss  the  influence  of  the  war  on  men  who 
have  come  back  as  you  have  personally  seen  these  effects  {1920). 
Write  to  a  London  newspaper  explaining  what  in  your  opinion  has 
been  the  most  important  effect  of  the  war  upon  America  (1919). 

Vincent,  page  155:  Which  vocation  serves  the  community  most? 
Which  least  ?   Do  athletics  serve  the  social  ideal  of  education  ? 

Crocker  on,  page  163:  Tell  your  experience  at  the  hardest  phys- 
ical work  you  ever  performed.  What  is  the  value  of  manual-training 
courses  to  students  preparing  for  professions?  Which  writer — Eliot, 
Vincent,  Crocheron — emphasizes  the  chief  need  of  your  community  ? 

Tajt,  page  i6j:  The  opportunity  of  women  in  politics  (1921). 
The  part  that  women  played  in  the  war  (1918). 

V.  The  Essentials  of  World  Peace 

Root,  page  176:  Give  the  constitutional  provisions  that  prevent 
secret  treaties  in  the  United  States.  Give  recent  illustrations  to 
show  the  unwillingness  of  democracies  to  incur  large  military  ex- 
penses in  time  of  peace.    Democracy  in  the  European  War  (1917). 

Lodge,  page  180:   The  question  of  "preparedness"  (1916). 

Wilson,  page  183:  How  has  each  of  the  Fourteen  Points  fared 
since  1917?  What  advantages,  if  any,  would  the  United  States  gain 
from  the  adoption  of  them  ?  Plan  a  settlement  of  European  bound- 
aries and  affairs  in  accordance  with  the  Fourteen  Points. 

Colby,  page  186:  What  are  some  of  the  chief  principles  of  "inter- 
national justice"  ? 

Coolidge,  page  i8g:  Let  the  class  act  as  a  peace  conference  which 
is  to  arrange  the  boundaries  of  Turkey  on  the  principle  of  nationality. 
Let  someone  plead  the  case  of  each  nationality  and  the  class  decide 
the  final  arrangement. 

VI.  The  League  of  Nations 

Smuts,  page  iQS-  What  have  been  the  success  and  work  of  the 
League  of  Nations  since  1918? 

Wilso7i,  page  igg:   The  United  States  and  world  peace  (1921). 

Reservations,  page  204:  Explain,  as  to  citizens  just  naturalized, 
the  attitude  of  the  United  States  to  European  politics.  The  League 
of  Nations  as  an  aid  to  permanent  peace  (1919). 

Article  X,  page  zog:  Express  your  opinion  on  Article  X,  and  fmd 
analogies  in  school  and  community  life. 


iv  VITAL  FORCES  IN  CURRENT  EVENTS 

VII.  Latin  America  and  the  Philippines 

Wilson,  page  221:  How  can  Americans  visiting  Latin  America  pro- 
mote good  feeling  ?  The  relations  of  the  United  States  and  Mexico 

(iQi?)- 

Wilsofi,  page  22q:  Do  these  same  tests  apply  to  school  organiza- 
tions which  wish  greater  freedom  from  faculty  control  ?  What  do 
we  owe  to  England?  (1918).  Why  and  how  should  students  share 
in  the  government  of  your  school?  (19 16). 

Brent,  page  2jy:  What  is  the  value  of  literary  societies  for  train- 
ing in  self-government?  Are  small  nations  safer  today  than  in 
1914?    A  new  conception  of  colonial  administration.    (1919.) 

VIII.  Understanding  Other  Nations 

Ferrer 0,  page  245:  Do  changes  in  buildings  in  your  community 
indicate  an  improvement  in  architecture  ?  Describe  the  industrial 
development  of  Germany,  Russia,  and  Italy  since  1870. 

Galsworthy,  page  250:  Do  the  Tom  Brown  stories  agree  with  the 
writer's  characterization  of  life  in  the  English  public  schools  ?  Did 
the  British  in  the  World  War  show  the  qualities  here  ascribed  to 
them? 

Murray,  page  253:  Is  a  community  benefited  by  the  presence  of 
a  few  persons  above  the  rest  in  education  and  wealth  ?  Does  your 
school  or  club  have  a  standard  such  as  that  of  "gentleman"?  What 
qualities  must  its  members  possess  ? 

Barres,  page  256:  How  would  an  American  lieutenant  have 
written  ?  Is  the  letter  sincere  ?  Where  does  the  American  stand  in 
relation  to  the  French  and  English  as  to  displaying  emotion? 

Boutroux,  page  258:  Compare  this  ideal  with  Wilson's  test  for 
self-government.  How  far  should  the  state  go  in  imposing  rules  on 
the  citizen  :  such  as  compulsory  education,  compulsory  voting,  com- 
pulsory labor  ?    At  what  point  is  liberty  violated  ? 

Wallace,  page  262:  Does  modern  Italy  emphasize,  to  use  the 
terms  of  Ferrero,  quantity  or  quality?  What  were  Italy's  services 
to  the  Allies? 

Olgin,  page  271:  What  produced  the  unfitness  of  the  Bolshevists 
for  leadership  in  191 7?  Apply  the  article  to  the  wisdom  of  select- 
ing all  officers  of  school  organizations  from  one  class. 

Bland,  page  278:  Characterize  the  Japanese  as  a  nation.  Trace 
parallels  and  contrasts  in  methods  of  expansion  by  Germany,  Eng- 
land, America,  and  Japan.  Debate  :  Resolved,  "Japan  should  be 
allowed  to  administer  China,"  and  "Japan  should  be  allowed  to 
expand  into  Siberia." 


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